


The Doctor's In

by Anthiem



Series: The Doctor's In [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: All the Monsters are Bara, Consensual, Consensual Sex, M/M, Porn With Plot, Slow Burn, They're big my dude
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-08-19 16:41:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthiem/pseuds/Anthiem
Summary: Frisk is fresh out-of-school therapist is hired by a newly built hospital run by monsters. Some of the monsters working there are kind while others are mysterious.





	1. To New Hospital

As the crisp morning air blows through the city, there are people bustling through the street and moving about in the different apartments. One particular apartment, the person inside was rushing about.

 

A young man, that appears to be in his early 20’s, was bolting out of the shower, drying himself just enough to jump into his briefs. Using that same towel that he wiped himself with, he rubs his brown hair down. The young man, then wipes the mirror off, showing his hazel eyes just beneath his feathered bangs. His messy hair fell and settled down to his jawline. The features of his face were soft, but still masculine enough to tell that he was a man.

 

“Maybe, I should get a haircut soon.” He sighed lightly as he grabs and slips on his scrub pants.

 

Pulling a scrub top over his head, he covered up slim body. The young man quickly put on his socks and shoes. He grabbed a hairband and a hand-brush, arranging his hair into a stubby ponytail. After tossing the hand-brush aside, he munches down on a breakfast sandwich; pulling out a strip of bacon out of it while he shoved materials into his bag. As he throws the bag over one of his shoulders, a newspaper was left open to a particular article on his kitchen table.

 

New Hospital Finally Open

Welcoming monsters and humans alike.

On the outskirts of the city, the first hospital to have monster staff

and looking to hire human staff.

 

Locking the door behind him. He sprints down the hallway and passes some of the neighbors leaving for their own jobs, as he scarfed down the rest of his breakfast.

 

“Already late for your new job, Frisk?” One neighbor shouts in amusement.

 

“If I make the bus, I won’t.” Frisk chuckles in return with a confident smile as he jumps down the stairs.

 

Dashing out of the apartment complex’s main door, Frisk ran to the bus stop when the bus was about to close its doors.

 

“Wait, I’m getting on!” Frisk shouts.

 

The bus driver huffs as she swings the doors back open. Frisk walks up, panting and offering the bus driver the fare. She rolled her eyes and using her thumb to point behind her. He moves into the crowded bus, grabbing onto the bar, and looking out the window as the bus as it begins to move.

 

Swaying with the bus and bracing for when the brakes hits the wheels, Frisk can’t help himself from closing his eyes, contenting his excitement and nervousness of it all. Overall, he was happy from finding a job as soon as he got out of school and in a hospital too.

 

Frisk opens his eyes, and realized he’s already so close to his destination.

 

**Shit, where’d the time go!**

 

He thought as he pulls the line for the bus to drop him off at the next stop.

 

****************************************

 

Vials, gloves of various sizes, thermometers, IV fluids, syringes, and all other necessary equipment for taking care of monsters and humans. A monster takes inventory to distract from the fact that hospital is still new and small compared to the human hospitals further into the city.

 

Today was different as well; it was the day that a human was being added to the staff roster. Though only one applied, one was enough to give hope to a lot of the staff to bridge the gap that was between the two races.

 

A bony finger taps the paper on the clipboard; checking off the medicines that they had on hand. The monster had a stature similar to Papyrus, but was slightly shorter by a few inches. His shoulders were more rounded toward his chest, due to long hours sitting at a desk, looking over papers and files. His head was like a skeleton’s, though his face wasn’t; it was more a mask with no nose or lips, but his cheekbones give definition to the smooth face. He had sockets, while his right socket was half open; it had a crack going up into his skull, as the other socket was open and had a crack going to his mouth.

 

This monster sighed as he recalled the hell he went through just to become a doctor in human terms. Sans went through the schooling system with Alphys. Luckily, thanks to Sans’ aloof nature, it made hard for the other students to really pick on him. But Alphys had it harder; with all the hazing those humans put her through. She found solace in anime, which gave her strength, to where his words could not, to push her to finish her education.

 

He helped them study to pass the grueling tests. They were both smart enough to pass the tests with flying colors and the teacher didn’t care if they were monsters or not. All they cared for were results.

 

It took a while to get the monsters, that volunteered to be educated, to become nurses and doctors too, but they had just had enough to open this hospital, as small as it was.

 

A knock came to the door, the monster turned to face it.

 

“It’s open.” He spoke in a firm voice.

 

The door creaked open to reveal a much shorter, yellow, dinosaur like monster. She wore her medical coat that was a little too big for her. It was visible to see that it dragged on the floor as she walked.

 

“I-It’s almost time, D-doctor Gaster.”

 

Gaster sets the clipboard down on the table, his fingers tracing over his own medial coat and making sure his sweater under it didn’t appear wrinkled. He looked at his boney hands that had holes in them, and then looked at the monster in the doorway.

 

“Do I look the part, Alphys?”

 

Alphys snorts and gives a nervous smile.

 

“When don’t you? You’re the head doctor and surgeon.”

 

“This hospital is small, so that’s not saying a lot. Though I appreciate the sentiment.”

 

The two walk down the hallway, enjoying the small chat with each other before reaching a door. Gaster reaches for the door handle, clicking it open and walking though. In this large room, he saw all the familiar faces.

 

A white and blonde haired goat monster with long horns protruding from his forehead, who stood over him in height, and had a kind demeanor. He was dressed in a suit and tie and took the saying “dress for success” to heart. He always wants to make a good impression with any human he meets, which Gaster found to be admirable. His name was Asgore Dreemur, the CEO of New hospital.

 

Next to Asgore was a monster with blue scaly skin, long red hair, sharp fangs, one yellow eye, as her left eye was missing and was covered by an eye patch: Undyne, head of security. She was wearing her security attire and stood with purpose and pride.

 

Gaster looked to the others who seemed to have gathered it the room as well.

 

A skeleton monster that had a wide smile that seemed to stay on in front of others, as well as his aloof attitude and puns. He, like the other doctors in the hospital, wore a white lab coat and whatever he felt like wearing under that. Today, it was a hoodie that he wore three days ago. That was Sans the skeleton, doctor for the children’s ward.

 

He seemed to be having a friendly pun-off with a white goat monster wearing purple scrubs and was currently on speaking terms with her ex-husband, Asgore. Toriel, head nurse and in charge of the children’s ward. She was tall as well, with the tall skeleton with them, she had an inch or two on him.

 

And the other, taller skeleton, but not as stocky as his older and shorter brother, was Papyrus. A fellow security guard who worked under Undyne; he was also known to be his brother’s keeper. He was standing next to Sans, currently trying not to blow a gasket from hearing all of the terrible puns being thrown around him by his brother and Toriel.

 

He holds the door for Alphys, glancing at the clock in the room as she made her way over to Undyne. Gaster closed the door as the chatter continued until he decided to intervene.

 

“Do pardon me for interrupting everyone, but does anyone remember what time the human was coming?”

 

“They’ll be arriving in an hour, WingDings.”

 

Asgore spoke up and smiled as he turned to Papyrus.

 

“Papyrus, I’m surprised you’re here.”

 

“NYEH HEH! IF I DIDN’T, THEN THIS PILE OF LAZYBONES WOULD STILL BE NAPPING IN THE CHILDREN’S WARD ON A PILE OF BEAN BAG CHAIRS.”

 

“It’s like being cradled by a whole lot of tiny foam beans wrapped in bags of fleece and faux fur.”

 

“THAT’S BECAUSE THEY ARE!”

 

Undyne cuts off the spat between the two.

 

“Papyrus, can you be on the lookout for the human who is supposed to arrive soon?”

Papyrus replies as he thumps his chest.

 

“LEAVE IT TO ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

 

He dashes out the door leaving the room in a somewhat quiet state.

 

***************************************

 

As the bus rolls up to the stop and came to a complete halt, the back door swung open with the front. Frisk slides his way through the people, managing to get over without bumping into too many people. He watches as the bus leaves, but notices he was the only one who’d stepped off from the bus.

 

**Perhaps it’s too early to visit the hospital for most people.**

 

Frisk thought as he made his way to the front of the hospital. Sifting through his bag, Frisk walks through the doors, muttering to himself.

 

“I thought I put the map in here…”

 

He bumps into someone much taller than him. Frisk takes a step back.

 

“Oh! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was go-“

 

“NYEH HEH HEH! A HUMAN PATIENT! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

 

Before Frisk could finish his apology, he was cut off by the taller figure. Frisk looked at the tall stranger and noticed he was a skeleton in a security outfit.

 

With all the rushing around and maybe dozing a little on the bus, it slipped his mind that the hospital he was starting to work at, was run by monsters. Not that that bothered him, if it had, he wouldn’t have applied to this hospital in the first place. But his gut feeling was telling him that this was a good place to go.

 

“ARE YOU ILL? DO YOU NEED ME TO HELP YOU TO THE E.R.?”

 

The skeleton voiced his concern over Frisk, and from Frisk’s point of view, the tall skeleton’s boney features seemed to have moved to express more concern on his face. Frisk smiles back apologetically.

 

“I’m fine, really. I actually start working here today, but I’m a bit lost.”

 

Frisk looks back up at the skeleton and he swears he could see sparkles in his eye-sockets.

 

“WE’RE GOING TO BE WORKING TOGETHER?! WOWIE! INTRODUCTIONS SHOULD BE IN ORDER THEN. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AN OFFICIAL SECURITY GUARD AT NEW HOSPITAL.”

 

Papyrus stood there proudly and with his boney hand to his chest. Frisk stares for a slight moment processing the introduction, but then smiles, offering out his hand to shake.

 

“My name is Frisk, I’m going to be working here as a massage therapist; I look forward to working with you.”

 

Even though he said that, Frisk didn’t know if he was going to see him again in the ward he was going to be working in or not. Papyrus takes his hand and gives it a firm shake.

 

“ME TOO!”

 

With a great smile and a few more shakes, Papyrus lets go of Frisk’s hand. Frisk notices a clock from the corner of his eye and realized he became late. Pausing in shock, Frisk looks up to Papyrus.

 

“Uh, sorry, but I’m running late for orientation… Can you help me?”

 

Papyrus stares back for a moment, his sockets getting ever-so slightly wider. He picks up Frisk and Frisk was surprised to be lifted up so easily. Before he could object to the way Papyrus was handling this situation, the skeleton put him under one arm and started making a mad dash to, where Frisk could only think, would be his destination.

 

“NYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

 

Papyrus screamed, as if he was a police siren, down the hallway. Frisk could only cover his ears as the scream went on. Then as arriving to their destination, Papyrus stops screaming and kicks in the door.

  
***************************************

 

Sans chuckled; breaking the silence.

 

“Well, can’t blame him for being passionate about his job.”

 

“Yeah, but that can easily scare a human that didn’t know him. I hope he doesn’t scare off the human that was just hired.” Undyne sighed as her hand covers her face.

 

“Then, w-wouldn’t you say that sending him to look out for the human would have been a mistake then.” Alphys chimed in her reason as Gaster’s held in snicker, came out.

 

“… Oh, fuck.” Undyne replied after a slightly pause of thinking about what her girlfriend said.

 

“He’ll be fine.” Asgore spoke up, his kind demeanor helping put Undyne at ease.

 

Gaster observed the room and seemed that with everything going on, had resumed a quiet chatter. He looked at the clock, the hands appeared to have not moved since he last looked at it. Following that thought, Gaster pulls out his phone from his white coat.

 

“Asgore.” Gaster said as the room hushed because it was rare for him to call out to Asgore, using his first name like that. Usually it was ‘Sir’ or ‘President Dreemur.’, but when he wanted to get Asgore’s attention quickly, Gaster would say his name.

 

“How long has that clock been at that time?” Gaster glances up from his phone.

 

“What do you mean?” Asgore looked at the clock confused.

 

“I suspect that it’s been at least 20 minutes that have passed due to all our talking since I entered the room, but the hands haven’t moved at all. It’s 8 according to that clock. But…” Gaster shows his phone, it reads 9:05 am. “The human is running a bit late.”

 

After Gaster pointed that out to the rest of them, they all heard a dull sound from far away getting louder and louder.

 

“Is that Papy-“ before Gaster could finish the question, the sound stops and the door is suddenly kicked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first fan-fiction I hope you all enjoyed it!  
> I'm not used to labeling tags so if I miss any please tell me so I can add them!
> 
> My beta readers:  
> LadyCallian  
> Tokalen  
> Dirgical


	2. Making Introductions and Good Impressions

The room went completely silent as the door violently swung open. Suddenly, Papyrus bursted through the door and firmly planted his foot on the ground.

 

“I WAS INTRODUCING MYSELF, THE HUMAN ISN’T LATE! HE’S HERE, SEE?!”

 

His expression was panicked as he pulled Frisk from under his arm and landed him right in front of himself. Frisk blinked, then brought up one of his hands and waved to the rest of the monsters in the room.

 

“Hello, my name is Frisk.”

 

From a quick glance, he noticed that all the monsters, except for two, were much taller than him. Frisk wasn’t short by human standards, standing at 5 feet 10 inches, just an inch above average. The two that were shorter than the rest, looked be just three to five inches taller than him. The first to approach Frisk was a tall, female goat monster.

 

“Hello, Frisk. It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Toriel. I am the head nurse in this hospital, though you can usually find me in the children’s ward.”

 

“Nice to meet you too, Toriel.” Frisk replied as he offered his hand. Toriel looked at him slightly surprised, then proceeded to shake his hand with a gentle smile coming over the goat monster’s face.

 

“My, aren’t you polite.” She says in a graceful voice.

 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Frisk quickly states, catching her by surprise again.

 

“Well-” Toriel started to say but a cough from Asgore interrupted her. She looks over at him with an expression as if to scold him. Asgore walks up to Toriel with Undyne behind him. He gives a pat on her shoulder, but Toriel does not leave Frisk. She simply let go of his hand and moved to his side like a mother would when she introduces her child to a new person. Asgore lightly sighs as he turns up a smile. He was a well-dressed monster who had quite the presence as he towered over Frisk.

 

“Welcome to New Hospital, Frisk. I’ve been told it’s not very creative, but I’m the president and CEO to this facility. I look forward to having you work with us.” Asgore offered his giant hand as Frisk did with Toriel.

 

Frisk accepted the handshake and returned it with a firm grip.

 

"I'm grateful that you hired me, despite being fresh out of school," Frisk said with a sheepish smile.

 

"Everyone's gotta start somewhere," Asgore added.

 

“True.” he nodded in agreement as they let go of each other’s hands.

 

“You have quite the grip there.” Asgore chuckled lightly.

 

"I was told a good handshake makes for a good impression," Frisk replied

 

“That it does.” Asgore’s words gave Frisk some confidence.

 

Despite the conversation, and that all eyes were on him, Frisk felt a particular set of eyes watching, observing him. He could feel someone staring at him intensely; the stare had some kind of intent behind it. Thanks to staying over at his neighbor's house when he was younger, this feeling was all but too familiar to him.  His neighbor had a dog and it was smart for figuring who the weak link was. Frisk had a feeling that the dog knew she could take advance of him whenever he would visit. So, when she wanted something, she didn’t go to her owners, no, she went to Frisk when he was sleeping on the couch. The dog would get her face super close to his and stared, watching for his eyes to open. Frisk remembered that stare was burning right into him; it was always a surprise to see how close she actually was.

 

This was like that time, still no ill-will behind it and that same burning sensation burrowing into him.

 

"Allow me to introduce the head of security here. This is Undyne if someone unsavory or hostile tries to do anything to you-"

 

“I’ll bust their chops!” Undyne cuts off Asgore. From what Frisk could tell, the blue fish-like monster’s heated gaze at him was like she was looking at a threat to hospital.

 

Frisk didn’t falter under her intense gaze. Though, he was nervous beyond belief since he wanted to get along with his peers, but perhaps now wasn’t the time to ask about why she was hostile to him.

 

“I’ll keep that in mind, so when a patient gets a little too handsy, should I call on you for help in handling the situation?" Frisk looked her in the eye when he asked his question.

 

“Huh?” Undyne looks slightly shocked to hear that sudden question.

 

“It probably won’t come to that, but in case it does.” Frisk looks around the room as it goes quiet.

 

“Oh, uh, sorry, they teach us a lot about possible situations in school and things to look out for being a massage therapist. I just want to put a part of me at ease, knowing you would come if the worse did happen.” Frisk tried to explain himself, without feeling his was fumbling with his words.

 

"That won't happen on my watch, human," Undyne spoke with a serious tone. The look in her eye wasn't of hostility anymore, but one of confidence. Frisk nodded, reassured that if something bad did happen, the security would help handle the situation.

 

“NOR ON MINE, HUMAN!” Papyrus busted through the serious atmosphere, like a bull in a china shop.

 

“FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS THE BEST ONE TO HANDLE THE SITUATION IF EVER IT ARISES!!” Papyrus shouts as it echoes down the hallway.

 

“Well, this is a great time to introduce myself, I’m Sans the skeleton.” Sans cuts his way between Asgore and Undyne. “I’m the doctor in charge of the children’s ward, but I used to be a massage therapist like you.”

 

“You did?” Frisk asked surprised. “What happened?”

 

"Well, I got fired. Apparently, my boss said, I rubbed people the wrong way."

 

Frisk thought for a moment as he saw the skeleton’s smile grow wider, he fought the urge to laugh, but Frisk’s smile clearly showed as Papyrus spoke up.

 

“OH MY GOD, SANS! WAS THAT A PUN?!”

 

“What it wasn’t like I ‘kneaded’ the job anyway” Sans added making Papyrus more frustrated with him. Then Frisk couldn’t resist anymore.

 

“Oh, come on, Papyrus, your brother got fired, we shouldn’t rub it in.”

 

Papyrus stopped as his head slowly turned to Frisk, who was slightly shaking with the laughter he was holding it, while Toriel was letting out small giggles. Sans chuckled, snapping his fingers and made a finger gun at Frisk.

 

“I like this one.”

 

Before chaos could ensue, Gaster moved in behind Frisk, his observing white beads for eyes looking down on Frisk as he slips his hands into cotton gloves, before tapping the shoulder of the distracted human.

 

Frisk looks up to the tall skeleton-like monster, meeting his eyes with Gaster’s.

 

“I am W.D. Gaster, I’m the head doctor and surgeon of this hospital.” He tries to speak in a kind tone, but the ghostly whisper that carried with his voice made it sound eerie.

 

Realizing that the intense gaze belonged to Gaster, Frisk wanted to ask him, ‘ **_Why were you staring at me?_ **’, but he chose not to. He looked to be the observing type, thinking before acting. School taught Frisk a lot of things, mainly how the body adjusts in order to compensate for other parts being in pain, but also how the body reacts to him. Guessing that made him the observant type too; Frisk offers his hand to Gaster.

 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Frisk.”

 

“So I’ve heard” Gaster replies with a smile as he took Frisk’s hand.

 

Even with the cotton glove on Gaster's hand, Frisk could still feel the hole in his hand. Gaster notices the shift from the polite and kind expression on the human's face to one of concern, as soon as they clasped hands. He wanted to pull his hand out of Frisk's grasp, but before he could, Frisk rotated his hand so Gaster's would be on top. His gaze looked at the hand in his own, Frisk used his other hand to rub over Gaster's to where the hole was. Gaster gets a light shiver from that.

 

“What happened?” Frisks asks, returning his eyes to Gaster.

 

Gaster saw genuine concern from this human, whom he just met today. He couldn't help but give a light chuckle.

 

“Nothing happened; my hands can be off-putting to humans. I thought I’d wear gloves around my future human co-workers, but I can see it’s only drawing attention from you.” He slips his hand out from between Frisk’s warm palms and takes off the glove. In doing so, he showed Frisk the hole in his hand. This made him remember a fragment of what he went through in med school; the looks of unease and disgust. Frisk opens his mouth to ask something, but before he could, Asgore interrupted.

 

“Pardon me, but there is one more major doctor you need to know about.” Asgore waves over to Alphys. The yellow monster shuffled over, looking far more nervous than Frisk.

 

“H-hello, m-my name is A-Alphys. I work in the l-lab mainly and I also m-maintain the supplies we have here.” She stuttered, was visibly sweating from meeting Frisk. Frisk gave her a smile and understood that he should keep his distance for now.

 

“Nice to meet you as well, I hope we get time to talk.” Alphys flinched as he said that, her eyes looking away from him.

 

“Maybe, but if y-you’ll excuse m-me.” Alphys shuffled over to Asgore and muttered something that Frisk couldn’t hear. Asgore sighed softly, shaking his head. Alphys glanced at Frisk again and moved behind Undyne.

 

Frisk looks around at everyone in the room as a question came to his lips.

 

“Who am I going to be working with?” Frisk asks. The room looked slightly confused except for Gaster.

 

"You'll be working with and coordinating with the doctors and nurses, as they taught you in school, correct?"

 

Frisk nods as Gaster continues after he received his answer.

 

"Currently the size of our hospital is small compared to the ones in the heart of the city. Some would say this is a clinic, but that's a topic for another time. You, Frisk, are going to be working with the doctors and nurses in all of the wards here." Frisk's stomach drops from the sudden anxiety from hearing that. "I know it might seem like a lot, but currently we only have monster patients. No humans have come to us yet; though someday they might. When that happens, you'll probably become busier. I'll be looking after you and teaching you about how monsters work, though it'll be up to you to figure out how to best work in your profession."

 

Frisk stared at him, thinking rapidly. He takes a breath and says what pops in his head.

 

“I can only offer what my school trained me to do, it’ll be a learning experience. Though I’ll put my best foot forward.”

 

Gaster leans in, as if to examine Frisk, his stare taking in small notes to perhaps use later. Frisk looks back at him without shrinking away. Gaster’s resting smiling was already creepy enough for the majority of humans he ran into and interacted with. So, he wanted to see how this human would react to it becoming… wider. As he moves one hand behind his back, his other one moves to be under his chin, his hand resting into a loose fist.

 

“Well, I’m looking forward to working with you, Frisk.” His smile grew, and the white beads in his sockets disappear as he spoke.

 

To Frisk, the smile looked cynical, a shiver when down his spine out of fear.

 

**_Oh my god, what is he planning to do with me? Should I leave? No, maybe avoiding him would be best. But what if we have the same client? Keep the talk brief. That would bad._ **

 

Frisk’s thoughts came flooding in, but then his small voice of reason spoke out in the sea of chaos.

 

**_What if it’s like having a resting bitch face? He might be kind. I shouldn’t judge him before knowing him. Just breathe._ **

 

Frisk closes his eyes and took a breath. Gaster looks at him, puzzled, from his reaction.

 

**_No one has responded like that before._ **

 

Frisk’s eyes open meeting Gaster’s darkened sockets.

 

"I look forward to working with you too." He said as he gave Gaster a kind smile.

 

As he looked down at Frisk, the flicker of fear he saw was gone and was replaced with kindness and **determination**. Gaster felt a thump which surprised him into dropping his smile and the white beads returning to his sockets. Gaster’s hand came over his mouth as thoughts rapidly came. He quickly looked over to the others, realizing he was being watched. They were smiling except for Undyne, Alphys, and especially Asgore. His expression was one of suspicion, but not at Frisk, it was at Gaster. He uses his usual smile and moves pass Frisk.

 

“Well, there are some regulars to the hospital that you might be taking care of. Follow me and I’ll show you around.”

 

Alphys seemed nervously surprised by his words, as she tried to voice her concern, Sans spoke over her.

 

“Really? But don’t you have to do your duties?”

 

“I’ve done everything I needed to do for today, though I could start on tomorrow’s preparations.” Gaster thinks and then waves his hand. “But wouldn’t it be better to have the doctor who knows this hospital better than the staff, to show the new member, around?”

 

“Actually, Doctor Gaster, I would like to talk to you.” Asgore voice caught his attention.

 

Gaster looked over to Asgore, he was greeted with the president’s business smile. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get away when he was like this. Gaster sighs as he looks to Sans.

 

“Can you take him on a tour in my place, Sans?”

 

“Ye-”

 

“OH, OH! LET ME! I CAN DO IT!” Papyrus interrupts Sans

 

“Sorry, Pap. I need all security guards to inform the rest of the unit of the new employee and you need to help me gather everyone.” Undyne pats his shoulder, stopping him from running towards Frisk and grabbing him.

 

“Sorry, bro. Maybe next time.” Sans tries to comfort the crestfallen Papyrus.

 

Gaster turns to Frisk.

 

“It’s a shame, I was hoping to give you the tour, but it seems something else requires my attention.”

 

“It’s understandable.” Frisk replies before his eyes turn to Sans. Gaster stares at him as he leaves his side to go over to the shorter skeleton. Asgore motions for everyone else to leave the room. While the room empties, Frisk was the last as he closes the door behind him.

 

**What was that earlier…?**

 

Gaster thought as he lightly presses over his chest, over his soul. Slipping his hand back behind him as he straightens up to face Asgore.

 

*************************

 

Frisk shuts the door behind him as he walks up to Sans. The shorter skeleton was waving good-bye to Papyrus as he followed Undyne. Sans then turned his head to Frisk, tucking his hands into the hoodie under his coat.

 

“So, where do you want to head first?” Asking Frisk as if he would know the wards. Frisk shrugs at him.

 

“I guess to the place I will be working in?” Frisk replies, confused.

 

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t want the ceiling to collapse on you.” Sans looked down at Frisk, with his usual smile.

 

“Wait, what?!” Frisk exclaimed and then thinking.

 

**With the structural integrity of the room, what about the-**

 

Sans snickered as he watched Frisk panic.

 

“With you in the room, it might be too much pressure for it.” Sans grinned wider and had an eye-socket closed.

 

Frisk paused and chuckled.

 

“That was so bad!” Frisk couldn’t help but smile at it. Sans chuckled with him as he started to move forward.

 

"Alright, alright. Your room is going to be near the offices, which is quite the walk, so I'll tell you the wards as we go by them." Sans takes out a hand from his pocket, pointing one of his fingers down the hallway.

 

“Okay.” Frisk follows him down the corridor.

 

********************

 

Gaster stands in front of Asgore as the door clicked behind Frisk.

 

“What are you planning, Gaster?” Asgore voice rumbled as he asked his question.

 

“I have no idea what you are inquiring about, sir.” Gastor didn’t move and wasn’t intimidated by the larger monster in front of him. His face remained stoic, making him hard to read.

 

“I saw that you were testing him; you don’t usually do that. What concerned me more was that you were thinking, right after they showed they weren’t intimidated by you.” Asgore said, his voice remaining deep and intimidating.

 

“So, thinking is bad now? If I didn’t think, then I wouldn’t be a doctor. A damn good one at that.” Gaster retorted, but it had a bit of sharpness to it.

 

"I am not saying that. I've known you for a long time now. I might not be able to know what you're thinking, but I know the signs of something to come when it's from you." Asgore stared down at Gaster as he continued. "I'm saying this now. Do not get Frisk involved in whatever your planning. He has a good soul to him and he might be able to help us into having more humans in this hospital."

 

“So, you’re involving him in your plans instead? If I was planning something, I would want to be in my lab more often than I am right now. I have to learn where the little things are now. Trust me, I’m already spread thinly like you are.” Gaster speaks with a hint of hostility. Before Asgore could reply, he adds. “I cannot convince you differently from what you suspect, but I do have to prepare for tomorrow no matter how little the work may be. I suspect you have a lot more than me, fending off humans politically and the mountain of paperwork that they’re throwing at you to keep this place running.”

 

Asgore goes silent, his eyes narrowing at Gastor.

 

“I wouldn’t want to step on your toes with the progress you’ve made so far. So, I’ll admit, I was thinking, but nothing too big. Just something that will help us.” One of Asgore’s eyebrows popped up.

 

“What were you thinking?” Asgore’s voice softens, interested in what Gaster had to say.

 

Gaster smiles as he motions a finger to Asgore. As Asgore leans down, he tells him.

 

“I prefer to talk about this at the lab.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH so happy i got it posted
> 
> Beta Readers for this chapter:  
> AnnePAMGKRTH  
> LadyCallian


	3. Along the Hollowed Halls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, updates might be a little slower because i'm moving WOOT!  
> I Hope you enjoy this chapter~

Walking down the hallway, footsteps echo as Sans and Frisk passed by the corridors of the different wards, but not visiting them.

 

“Down this hall is the neurology ward-”

 

“I heard it was nerve-wracking to be in that line of work” Frisk quickly adds.

 

“Heh, good one.” Sans snickered, leading him to the next ward.

 

“This is the maternity ward, where you can have a cow safely.” Frisk chuckled at Sans remark while they continued on.

 

“Okay, so this one is radiology… I got nothing for this one, cancer isn’t funny.”

 

“Well, yea, crabs are shifty assholes.” Frisk slips in his two cents as Sans took a moment to think, then laughs.

 

“Good use of astrology, I’ll remember that for next time.” 

 

They passed by a few more ward hallways; rheumatology, rehabilitation, and the emergency room, which Frisk thought he would be in the rehabilitation ward when Sans pointed it out.

 

**I guess they’re still figuring things out, this is the first hospital run outside of normal standards. They must have fought hard to make this happen**

 

Frisk thought to himself as they came to the children’s ward.

 

"This is the ward where Toriel and I work," Sans says out loud, snapping Frisk out of his train of thought.

 

“Wait, I thought you were going to show me where I was going to be working?” Frisk looks at Sans confused.

 

“Was I?” Sans thinks for a moment, then shrugs. “Oh, yea. Well, I would if I knew.”

 

Frisk looks at him with an expression that said what he was thinking, ‘What?’.

 

“The doc said to give you a tour, but we don’t know where your workspace is going to be. That’s up to him as well.” Sans smiles as he walks into the ward to the pile of bean bag chairs.

 

“Then what about the offices?” Frisk asks as Sans flops into the heap.

 

“Ah, yea, that’s a ways away from here. I need a break and I suggest taking one too.” Sans says loudly into a beanbag, so Frisk could hear him.

 

Frisk looks around the ward. The tile floor and walls were in an array of bright and cheery colors. The assortment of fun and colorful pictures make it seem like a whimsical forest going to a sea that came from a children’s book. The beds had quilts and fresh white sheets under them with a puffy pillow on top. A few bookshelves lined a wall, two were tall, but between the two were short ones letting the windows shine light through. Frisk walked over, looking at the bookshelves. They were filled with different kinds of books, some were worn, but others looked brand new.

 

Frisk skimmed through the titles of the books and he found a familiar title, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. He got excited as he grabbed the book, looking over the slightly worn cover, reminisced reading it as a child with his father.

 

“Is that a good book, Frisk?” A familiar voice rang out, surprising Frisk as he fumbled the book. After catching it, Frisk looks at Toriel.

 

"Ah, yeah, I mean, yes. I read it as a kid to my dad, then again we read it back and forward to each other. It was a bonding experience for both of us." Frisk smiled, as he reminisced about the past for a little bit. He looks back at Toriel, slightly embarrassed.

 

“I’ve wanted to re-read it… but I never got around to it.” Frisk spoke with a bit of sadness in his voice.

 

"You can borrow it from here if you want," Toriel said with a comforting smile. Frisk shook his head.

 

“Thank you, but maybe another time.” Frisk gently places the book back where he found it. His eyes glance over at the shorter bookshelf, seeing a couple of hand-knitted teddy bears; one was red and the other was a sky blue. He picks the red one up. “Did you make this, Toriel?” Frisk looks at the goat monster. She smiles and nods lightly.

 

“I did, it was something I wanted to pick up. I have more if you want to keep that.” Toriel leans in, gently cupping under his hands as he held it.

 

Looking at the bear, Frisk found it adorable, squeezing it in his hands. She must have used a soft yarn because it felt so squashy in his palms. "Thank you," said Frisk, as he placed the teddy bear into his bag.

 

“I’m glad you like it.” Toriel reply, but before the silence could set in. She spoke again. “I have a question for you Frisk. Do you like butterscotch or cinnamon?”

 

**What an odd question.**

 

Frisk thought for a moment before he answered, “I don’t hate them, though I haven’t had either in a while.” With that answer, Toriel’s face lights up.

 

“You’ll be here tomorrow, right?” Toriel asks. Frisk nods

 

“I might be a little late because of how the bus route runs, but I do plan on being here.”

 

Toriel lets out a squeak of enthusiasm, "Alright, then. I would like to have lunch with you tomorrow if you're not too busy."

 

"Okay, I'll have to see when my lunch is, but I don't mind having it together with you," Frisk replied with a smile, but to Toriel, that smile looked a little flirty. She blushes slightly, but then shakes it off. Before the two could saying anything more, they got interrupted by Sans' snoring. Both of them look over at the sunken skeleton in the mound of bean bag chairs. They turn back to each other and chuckle.

 

“Ah, before I forget, Sans didn’t take me to where the offices were. So, I don’t know where they would be.”

 

"So, he didn't complete the tour Doctor Gaster asked him to do," Toriel said in a stern tone.

 

Frisk jumped thinking he was in trouble but then nodded without saying a word. Toriel huffed and walked towards the pile of bean bags. As she arrived, her gaze was fixed onto Sans. The skeleton suddenly jumped awake as he felt the fiery stare go through him.

 

“Sans. I believe you still have a job to do. Frisk might not be a child in need, but I will not have them get lost if they are trying to find someone later on.”

 

Frisk stiffens as she spoke. He looked at Sans, who was apparently sweating under the intense watch. He decided not to tell her that he only showed the corridors to where the wards were. Sans met Frisk’s eyes as he slowly got up. It was like they were having a silent conversion for a split second.

 

 **Just give me a map to the place later** ; Frisk thought hoping Sans would understand him.

 

Sans gave a quick nod, then turned to Toriel.

 

“Honestly, I just showed them the corridor to the wards.” Frisk’s and Toriel’s eyes got bigger for different reasons. Toriel took a breath, as she spoke a demanding tone.

 

“Just take them to the offices, then I’ll show them to the wards. Properly.”

 

“Y-yes, ma’am.” Sans’ eye sockets went dark, continuing to sweat as he replied.

 

He motions to Frisk to come over, so that can continue to the offices. Frisk moves quickly, giving Toriel a swift bow of his head. Sans sockets remain dark for some time, as Frisk followed.

 

"Boy, it seems like Toriel has taken quite a liking to you," Sans said as the white beads returned to his sockets.

 

“She’s nice from what I can tell.” Frisk matches the pace of Sans as he responds.

 

“She is, but if there’s something she finds wrong, she’ll try to correct it.”

 

“Like how you fell asleep for a ‘break’?” Frisk verbally poked.

 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Sans smiles as a bead of sweat rolls down his skull.

 

They walk to, what feels like the middle of the hospital, seeing the offices. There were monsters of various sizes and colors, organizing and documenting papers. When they took notice of Frisk, they stopped what they were doing and came out to greet Frisk with enthusiasm. They were all nice, but he had to slap at least one set of hands off his butt; Frisk gave a glare to the owner of the hands.

 

“That’s very unprofessional, I’d appreciate if you kept your hands to yourself.”

 

"What. You touch people for a living. I thought it wo-" Before the monster could finish, Frisk's stare intensified. The look said, ‘You might want to shut up before you get offensive.' and stopped the monster mid-sentence. The other monsters defended Frisk.

 

“The fuck are you saying, that’s sexual harassment.”

 

“I have half a mind to report you to Doctor Gaster.”

 

“You’re embarrassing us, Todd.”

 

Ashamed, the monster called Todd, slinks back into his office. The other monsters apologize to Frisk as every one of them slowly went back to work. Frisk waved to the last of them, turning his attention to Sans. Sans was leaning against a wall, fighting from going to sleep as his sockets were half open. With a sigh, Frisk spots something running. At first, he thought it was Papyrus again, but he heard Undyne scream.

 

“Just because I dismissed you guys, doesn’t mean you can look for the human?! You still have a job to do!” Those few seconds made Frisk see what was coming for him. Dogs. They were dog monsters and the one leading the charge appeared to be wearing armor under his uniform.

 

Frisk, not knowing what to do when a mass of dogs coming to where he was at, began to run. Running was not Frisk’s specialties growing up, so the dogs caught up to him quickly. The leading dog picked him up like he was nothing and started sniffing him. Frisk, exhausted and confused, didn’t fight back as the other dog monsters did the same as the one who got him.

 

“So this is the human?” Said a wide-eyed dog monster with droopy ears and a fur pattern on their face making it look like eyebrows.

 

“Smells weird.” Chimed in another; they looked like the first one who spoke, but without the fur brows.

 

“I did shower today...” Frisk says still exhausted from his run.

 

“Sorry, guys but can you put him down?” Sans’ voice rang out. The dog’s ears perk up, surprised to see Sans and put Frisk down. Recovering from the run and being picked up for the second time today, Frisk looks at the small group of dogs.

 

“You all are part of security, right?” Frisk watches as they all nod in unison. “And from what I’ve gathered, you came after me because I’m a human.” Another nod from all of them in reply.

 

“Okay, please don’t do that again. Even if I was gone for today, I am going to be back tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of time to introduce ourselves and talk.” Frisk tries to not to use a scolding tone, but from their reaction, it didn’t work. All of their ears droop, eyes getting watery, and what made it worse is that a few of them started to whimper; Frisk felt a wave of guilt hit him.

 

“H-hey, come on, please don’t be sad, it’s just I-” Frisk’s eyes met a smaller dog monsters eyes. He saw his reflection in those eyes, Frisk fought the urge, but it won. His hand reaches out and pets the head of the dog monster with light cream fur. With surprise, Frisk feels the dog’s head rise a little. The cream-colored dog monster was already standing up fully; maybe it was his imagination. Frisk pets him again, the head rises again.

 

**Oh my god, what is happening?!**

 

Frisk stares, too panicked to show any worry on his face. He looks at the others, they all look on with jealousy. Then three of them start talking at the same time.

 

“Pet? Pot? Pet? Pat?” A black and white dog says as his mouth makes a barking motion.

 

“Pet other dogs too?” The two from earlier say at the same time.

 

Frisk noticed as those three got closer. The biggest one with armor on under their uniform and the one he had petted, didn’t talk. Removing his hand from the head of the dog monster, who’s neck seemed to be extending with each pet. He starts petting the others in front of him, their tails wag, slapping into one another. The biggest one looks on with puppy eyes. Frisk give a last pat to the others as he moves up to the one left out. As the large dog monster looks down on him, Frisk boops their small nose because he can’t reach the top of their head. He felt a small wind from behind the dog as they panted. Frisk looks to see their tail wagging.

 

“Okay, kid. I got to get you back to Toriel.” Sans spoke out again with his sockets closed and sighs.

 

“Oh, right.” Frisk withdrew his hand. Going back to Sans, Frisk walks back over to Sans, but the dog monsters follow. Sans looks at them. “I can handle getting him back to the children’s ward.” The dogs ignore Sans as they look to Frisk. The two similar looking dog monster step forward, lightly sniffing the air around Frisk again.

 

“We’re sorry about getting over excited, but we just can’t help ourselves around new smells. I’m Dogaressa and this is my wonderful hubby.” Dogaressa leans into the other one.

 

"She means me, I'm Dogamy." They rub noses as they point to the others. The black and white dog puts a dog treat into its mouth but lets it rest like a cigarette.

 

"That's Doggo," Dogamy says, then leans in and whispering to Frisk.

 

“He’s fun to mess with because he can’t see things that don’t move.” Dogamy gives a wheezy laugh as Dogaressa continues where he left off. She points at the smaller dog, who’s neck returned to normal, and the larger one looking down at the smaller one.

 

“That’s Greater and Lesser dog.”

 

“What are their names?” Frisk asks.

 

“We don’t know, but they respond to being called those.” Dogaressa shrugs as she answers.

 

“Okay, it’s good to meet you, I’m Frisk. Sorry, I can’t stay around to chat more. Toriel is going to be taking me to the wards.” Hearing the words from Frisk, the group’s ears perk from hearing Toriel’s name.

 

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Doggo says bluntly. Frisk points at Sans.

 

“Sans said so...” Frisk replied with a weak smile.

 

They all look at Frisk and Sans, nervously. Sans gives the dogs a look saying, ‘That I did.’

 

“S-sorry.” They quickly move out and disperse down the hallways.

 

Frisk having the look of surprise, looks over at Sans. “So, Toriel is scary too, huh?”

 

“Only if you do something she truly doesn’t like.” Sans walks down the hall after saying what he needed to. Frisk follows him, wondering about what kind of woman Toriel was. He notices as he snaps back to reality, they were taking a different route from the one before.

 

“Sans, where are we going?” Frisk looks around as he asks.

 

“Boy, you must have been running hard. You run down a completely different way, but don’t worry, this hospital is designed to connect to the different wards, like a circle.” Sans responds to Frisk as he continued. “Let’s use my shortcut to get us there, becau-” Sans stops. Frisk notices his cut-off sentence and looks up. He saw Doctor Gaster without his lab coat on, looking at his nicely pressed sweater softly hugging to what seemed like a slightly lean figure. Which made Frisk think.

 

**How can his clothes have mass to that when he’s a- Is he a skeleton? He has skeletal hands, right? So maybe?**

 

Frisk quickly looks at Sans with these thoughts in mind. He didn’t notice before, but Sans’ clothes also looked like he had mass to him, even though he was a skeleton.

 

**Is this because of their bone structure? Or because they’re monsters?**

 

As Frisk tries to wrap his head around what he was seeing, Gaster takes notice of them.

 

“Ah, hello again, Frisk. I do apologize for not being able to give you a tour, but I hope Sans is being a good guide.” Doctor Gaster walks over to them with sophisticated stride. The white beads look at the shorter skeleton as Sans shrugs at him in reply. Frisk, thinking that Toriel is going to be giving him a more thorough tour, says in a tired voice.

 

“It’s a lot to take in for my first day here, but I’ll adjust.” Frisk smiles. Gaster puts his finger on his chin as he leans in, looking at Frisk face.

 

“It seems so, perhaps it’s better to let you leave for today.” Gaster stands back up, still thinking.

 

"But the tour isn't done yet," Frisk said with a sad look on his face. Gaster's white beads disappear as a twinge took a hold of his soul.

 

**Again? No, it’s different this time…**

 

He doesn’t let his face change in front of the two as that thought came to his mind. Even without the white beads in his sockets, he stares at Frisk.

 

**Why are these reactions to my soul, only around you so far? Perhaps I should look into what’s wrong with me.**

 

He composes himself internally before speaking to them again.

 

“I would hate if you slept in from all the stress from remembering what you were shown today. We may be in charge of people’s health, but we need to take care of ourselves first.”

 

"I'm not pushing myself, Doctor, and besides, I know that we are the worst hypocrites." Frisk retorts as Gaster's finger twitches from hearing that. Removing his hand from his chin, stopping himself from continuing his train of thought.

 

“What do you mean?” Gaster questions Frisk, leaning in again as if to want to know why he said that. As the doctor looked at him, he noticed that the rim to his lower sockets was darker than the rest.

 

**Are those… like bags under his eyes?**

 

That thought popped into Frisk’s head, curious and nervous. He felt like he was crossing a line, but he takes a breath.

 

“When was the last time you slept, Doctor?” Frisk looks at him in the dark sockets. Gaster’s smile faded a little.

 

“That is none of your concern, Frisk.” Gaster restores his smile. Frisk’s face was serious as they spoke up.

 

“Doctor, our professions require us to care and be concerned for absolute strangers. Do you think it limits it to just them? I think we are meant to care for all when we chose this path, even our fellow co-workers.” His tone wouldn’t allow Gaster to counter unless it was an answer to his question. Frisk could feel his heart pounding loudly as he locked eyes with Gaster. He didn’t know why he started what felt like a battle of words, but Gaster’s concern was not lost on him. Frisk simply wanted to tell him to take care of himself too.

 

**God, I’m going to lose my job on the first day, aren’t I?… No, I get the feeling he hasn’t gotten any sleep in at least a day. Stand your ground, Frisk.**

 

The three of them stood there in silence, the clock being the only sound ringing out. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Gaster stands back up from his lean, pivoting on his heel, he walks back to where he was heading.

 

“I have other business to attend to. Be careful on your way home, Frisk.” Leaving Frisk and Sans standing in the split corridor. They stood there for a bit in silence, but Sans spoke up.

 

“Damn kid, that was intense. I didn’t know how to cut into that.” Sans appeared to be sweating from the intense silence. Frisk finally takes in air, looking at Sans.

 

“So, just guessing, but he doesn’t like when people want to care for him?” Frisk tries to calm his heart down. Sans shakes his head.

 

"Nah, I just think no one is brave enough to say anything, besides Asgore and Toriel." Sans sighs, giving Frisk a pat on the back. "Come on. I'll explain to Toriel what happened when we went to the offices. We'll use my shortcut, as I was saying earlier since we burned enough time."

 

After saying that, Sans guides Frisk down the hallway, disappearing after a few steps. Around the corner, out of sight from the two, Gaster was trying to get his soul to stop thumping.

 

**What the hell is wrong with me?! Why won't my soul stop thumping? Has anyone else been getting affected by this? No other humans I met made my soul like this.**

 

Gaster’s mask-like face slightly flushes as he remembers Frisk locking eyes with his gaze. He was stubborn, caring and **_determined_ ** to get the answer he wanted from Gaster. He leans back into the wall, breathing as the thumping calmed down.

 

**God, there must be something wrong with me. Getting like this from just a conversation from a therapist that I just met today… I should get going and examine my soul to see what changes have been going on.**

 

‘We’re the worst hypocrites.’ What Frisk said rang out in his mind. Gaster takes a moment to let it sink in.

 

**Maybe I should get some sleep… I can take notes on my condition and then rest.**

 

He pushes off from the wall and continues his walk out of the hospital.

 

******************

 

Sans and Frisk appear in front of the children’s ward. Sans walks into the ward, leaving Frisk to stand there. The emotions he felt remained him of getting off a roller-coaster after the ride had stopped. The excitement and fear made him give a dry chuckle. Frisk’s mind could only think of one thing.

 

**Huh? So we’re here now… Magic is fucking awesome.**

 

He takes a breath and walks into the ward; Frisk spots Sans and Toriel talking. He was still too far away to hear what they were talking about. Though going on what Frisk remembers, Sans was telling Toriel what happened after the office. Toriel notices Frisk and waves him over, Frisk gives a nod and headed over to join them.

 

"From the brief chat Sans and I had, you've quite the run around today," Toriel speaks in a gentle tone with an equally gentle smile.

 

"Yes, I wasn't expecting to be chased after," Frisk says as he gives a light laugh afterward.

 

“Oh, come on, kid. You also had a chat with Doc Gas, though it was short.” Sans said with his sockets closed, then opened one to look at Frisk.

 

“Oh? I do hope it was friendly.” Toriel sighed.

 

“Why wouldn’t it be friendly?” Frisk asked, slightly confused.

 

“Well, he was testing you earlier when you were meeting us...” Toriel’s expression changed to that of worry.

 

“Testing me?” Frisk still looking bewildered on what Toriel was talking about.

 

"Yea, he was trying to scare you, Frisk," Sans says it bluntly.

 

“Oh! So, that wasn’t like a resting bitch-face?” Frisk retorts, leaving the monsters in front of him, speechless. Seeing how their eyes slightly widened from what he said, he continues. “You know, like when someone looks angry, but really isn’t. Like that, but for-”

 

“No, no, we understand what ‘resting bitch-face’ is, it’s just...” Toriel said holding back her giggles as Sans starts to laugh.

 

“I’ve never heard someone use that term for Doc Gas!” Sans says that, trying to catch his breath.

 

"Yes, but let's get back on topic," Toriel speaks up, still letting out a few giggles. They take a moment to get their laughter and giggles out. With a sharp intake of air and a relieved sigh, she continued, "Doctor Gaster likes to test people, usually. It's small tasks he gives them, but I think he was trying to scare you away."

 

“Why would he do that?” Frisk replies quickly, interested in hearing more.

 

"Because in med school, all of the humans would avoid us like we were some kind of disease. Guess hearing terrifying stories of monsters through the generations leaves the mass populous cautious and scared." Sans huffs, shaking his head. Frisk didn't deny that would be the case, but times are changing.

 

“Someday, that will change.” He says as he looked at them. Toriel gave a smile which filled Frisk with hope, as Sans held his same smiling expression. Frisk caught a glimpse before Sans turned away, his eyes were brimming with the same emotion Frisk was having. Sans headed to the pile as Toriel spoke up.

 

“I’m glad you were hired here, I have a good feeling about you.” She said as she hooks her arm into Frisk’s. “I promised to give you a proper tour. So if you’re up for it, let us go.” Frisk smiles, putting his hand over Toriel’s large hand.

 

“Lead the way.”

 

From his arrival to his departure, Toriel showed him the quickest path to get to each ward and who was in charge of each ward, besides the children’s ward. After the tour was done, Frisk was able to catch the last bus for his route. As he sits down in the empty bus, Frisk pulls out his phone to check the time. The phone flashed on revealing the time, 8:23 pm, 11 hours of being introduced, getting a tour, and trying to make the best impression he could. He was exhausted, but he dare not doze off on the bus again.

 

Frisk thought he would see how many people he could remember for tomorrow. Sans seems pretty chill, and Toriel had been kind to him, so she was definitely someone to talk to when things get overwhelming. Papyrus was loud, but Frisk could tell he came from a good place. Asgore... Frisk couldn’t tell if he was good or bad, much like Undyne. He paused his other thoughts as Alphys came to mind.

 

**I wonder what happened to her... She looked so scared when she saw me…**

 

He leans back as he lets out a sigh as one individual came to mind.

 

**W.D. Gaster, who are you... and why did you test me? If it was to scare me into not coming back... I think that might have worked on others.**

 

The bus comes to his stop as Frisk pulls the cord. Stepping off of it, the bus drives off; Frisk looks at his building and enters. Climbing up the stairs, he unlocks his door, throwing off his bag and shoes, and makes his way to bed. Frisk flops down onto it and sets his alarm for earlier than today's alarm. With that deed done, sleep claimed him as his vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader:  
> LadyCallian


	4. Preparations and Aggravations

Waking up to a dark room, Gaster groans as he searches for the lamp closest to the bed. He slides his fingers over papers written in his own language until he bumps into the base of the lamp. He turns it on, groaning louder as the light blinds him. Shifting under the sheets, the white monster raises up after a few minutes pass. He looks down at himself, sighing, as he sees that he was wearing what he did yesterday. Rubbing his neck, his gaze looks to the thin file on his bed with a pen nearby. Gaster reaches over and grabs it along with the pen. As the lamp illuminates the space, the light showed the room to be rather larger for a monster his size, but it only had a bed with a nightstand, a dresser and an L-shaped desk stationed near the door as well as a small filing cabinet next to it.

 

**All right, let’s take a look at this now…**

 

Gaster gathers his thoughts from his waking mind. Opening the file, the papers inside have detailed descriptions about Frisk. The pale monster stands up and walks over to his desk; one side was covered with parchment. Putting down the file, he sifts through different folders labeled with various names, inside them had a diverse array of pictures with humans that were unlike one another. These particular records were from his days in medical school. The reports held information on each of the humans he had met, from their personalities to physical observations. Besides that, they all had the same reaction to him, that of fear. Gaster looks at the notes on how he felt towards them.

 

**As I thought, I felt ‘indifferent’ towards them. What makes this one so different from the rest? Perhaps, he was raised differently from the ones I’ve encountered…**

 

The pale monster grabs the chair and takes a seat, jotting down his thoughts as soon as he settled in. He places the open folder back on top of the others. His sockets close as he starts focusing on his soul. The feeling his soul emitted felt normal to him. Gaster clicks the button on his pen, thinking.

 

**Nothing… Maybe I was hallucinating from lack of sleep… or I can give myself another checkup…**

 

He stares at the papers in the file before closing it.

 

**No, no, I’ve wasted enough time on this. There are more pressing matters to handle. If a monster has similar symptoms, I’ll handle it then.**

 

His sockets narrow as his thoughts return to him. Gaster stands up and collects the files, except for Frisk’s, organizing them by name. He sets them inside of the open drawer of the filing cabinet next to his desk. While he closes the drawer, a knock comes to his door.

 

“Do give me a moment, I’m rather indecent.” The pale monster lied as he tries to straighten out his slightly wrinkled dark turtleneck sweater. He spots the file on Frisk still out; he rushes over quietly and instead of hiding it, he holds onto it. Luckily, Gaster didn’t label this file yet, so it appeared to look like any other folder he would carry. He walks over, opens the door, to see Asgore standing in the doorway.

 

*****

 

Frisk arrives at the hospital earlier than the other day. He yawns, still groggy from what transpired, and walks into the medical building.

 

“GREETINGS, HUMAN! I’M GLAD TO SEE YOU HAVE RETURNED!” Papyrus proclaims as soon as he spots Frisk walking in. His cheery smile and energetic personality made Frisk's smile in return.

 

“Papyrus, what will you call me when there are more humans in the hospital?” He says to Papyrus. The tall skeleton brings up his bony finger to his chin, tapping and imagining the situation to be a possibility.

 

“I’LL CALL YOU BY NAME THEN!”

 

“Why not now?” Frisk retorted quickly.

 

“NYEH?! WELL, UH, IT… IT FEELS LIKE WE’RE MORE THEN CO-WORKERS…”

 

“Like friends?” Frisk cut in again, but Papyrus’ expression changes from happy to overjoyed.

 

“REALLY?!” Papyrus nearly squeals from joy, but quickly stops, giving a little cough. “BUT, OF COURSE! AS GREAT AS I AM, YOU CAN’T HELP BUT WANT TO BE MY FRIEND!” The young man gave a soft smile.

 

“Well, yeah, but if you’ll excuse me, but I need to talk to Doctor Gaster to find out where I'm going to be working.” He tells Papyrus as he tries to pass by him.

 

“OH! HE IS RUNNING LATE. I HAVEN’T SEEN HIM AND HE’S USUALLY HERE BEFORE ME.” Papyrus says to Frisk. The human looks up at him in surprise.

 

“But I need to know what the hospital is supplying me...”

 

“AH, WELL, DOCTOR ALPHYS CAN TELL YOU THAT!” As Papyrus says that, Frisk remembers how she reacted to him yesterday.

 

“Yeah… Hey, Papyrus. Is Doctor Alphys close to anyone here?” He poses this question to Papyrus, he thinks a bit before replying.

 

“HMMM… I SEE UNDYNE AND HER TOGETHER MORE OFTEN THEN I SEE OTHER MONSTERS AROUND DOCTOR ALPHYS.” The tall skeleton answers.

 

“Sorry to ask this of you, but could you get her for me?” Frisk says, giving an apologetic look at Papyrus.

 

“WAIT, WHY? SURELY, I WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR WHATEVER BUSINESS YOU HAVE WITH DOCTOR ALPHYS?” The tall skeleton’s stature changes to that of overwhelming confidence.

 

“Papyrus, I appreciate the thought, but from what you told me; you wouldn’t know her very well.” The human states.

 

“GAH!”

 

“Sorry to say this, but I need someone she trusts and feels comfortable around.”

 

“WELL, I’LL GO AND MAKE HER COMFORTABLE AROUND ME!”

 

"Papyrus." Frisk uses a firm tone, stopping Papyrus before he went into a sprint, "Some problems can't be solved your way. I'll ask again, please get Undyne for me. I promise I'll make it up to you if you do this." Papyrus looked depressed, though recovered quickly, giving a thump on his chest.

 

"OKAY! WAIT HERE AND I'LL GO GET UNDYNE." Papyrus says triumphantly before speeding off. Frisk didn't wait long as he heard the echoes of Undyne down the hallway.

 

“Papyrus, I said ‘The human can handle it themselves!’ what part of that didn’t you understand?! Stop dragging me?!” Undyne screamed as Papyrus brought her up to Frisk. As she fought with Papyrus, Frisk noticed she was a bit shorter than him. Undyne brushes herself off and looks at the human in front of her, glaring at him, “What do you want? I’m busy with keeping this hospital safe.”

 

“Sorry, but I need you to accompany me to see Doctor Alphys.” Frisk states, putting on a brave face.

 

**Geez, she is terrifying when she’s pissed.**

 

“Huh. You can go by yourself, she isn’t going to attack you.” Undyne continued to glare down at Frisk, she opened her mouth to add what she said, but he spoke up first.

 

"I'm not asking you to protect me, I'm asking you to come to support her," Frisk stated, seeing the glaring quickly fade into shock.

 

“Why would you say that?” Undyne asks puzzled, Papyrus looked as puzzled as her.

 

“I don’t know what happened, but I get the feeling she’s scared of me.” Frisk looks down, feeling a bit sad for saying it out loud.

 

“THAT RIDICULOUS, HU- I MEAN, FRISK. YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING TO HER.” Papyrus tries to reassure Frisk, then Undyne’s commanding voice cuts through.

 

“Papyrus, head back to your post. I’ll handle it from here.” She moves towards Frisk, locking eyes with Papyrus as she said that. Papyrus sweats a little, looking at the two of them. Frisk motions to Papyrus that it’s okay.

 

“WELL, ALRIGHT. I’LL GO BACK.” Papyrus starts heading out, glancing back with a worried look. Undyne and Frisk stood there for a few seconds before Undyne started walking the opposite direction.

 

"Come on, human. Alphys should be in her office. Try to keep up." She said bluntly. Frisk matched her pace as silence fell on them awkwardly and briefly. "What made you say, ‘You want me to support her.'?" Frisk looks up at her, seeing she was looking at him.

 

"Well, it was how she acted towards me yesterday. Sure, it wasn't like Doctor Gaster or Doctor Sans, but it was one of fear." Undyne listens as Frisk continues, "We, humans, tend to act a lot like animals. At least when it comes to fear, we flinch, we cower, and we avoid others when we've been mistreated in the past, either from bullying or being abused." Undyne twitched a little while he went on, "Some humans seek help to become strong enough to overcome their trauma, many learn how to cope, but others… let it rule them."

 

"Sorry, you're assuming that Doctor Alphys might be scared of you," Undyne speaks up after he finishes. Frisk gives a nod to her statement. "Well, you got some sharp instincts there, but it's not my place to share what I know."

 

"I wasn't going to ask. I'll know when she wants to share," Frisk spoke as he got a bit more comfortable around Undyne.

 

“I can respect that… Thanks.” She states as she stops in front of a door, “We’re here.”

 

“Why are you thankin-” Frisk tries to finish his question, but Undyne’s knocks on the door prevented him from doing so.

 

“Hey Al, you in?” She spoke loudly as clattering noises could be heard from the other side.

 

“O-one moment, Undyne!” Alphys’ meek voice sounded through the door. As the door opened, Alphys was blushing lightly until she saw Frisk standing with Undyne. “Eep! Um, uh, h-hello, um, Frisk, was it?” Her eyes looked at the ground as she spoke; shuffling a little back into the room.

 

“It was. I brought Undyne, so we could talk.” Frisk stepped back himself, trying to show her that he wasn’t trying to trap her.

 

“W-why? I wouldn’t d-dare attack y-you. She d-didn’t need to c-come.” Alphys slowly started closing the door to a wide crack.

 

“Because he wanted to make sure you felt safe, Al.” Undyne cuts in, looking at her reassuringly. Alphys peeks out, appearing very surprised to hear that from Undyne.

 

“I-is that true?” Alphys nervously opens the door up again. Frisk nods to her question. She looks at Undyne, then back at Frisk. “W-well, h-how can I h-help you?” She softly said, not moving from the doorway.

 

“I was wondering, if the hospital would be supplying the materials I’ll be needing in order to perform my job. Doctor Gaster was called by Asgore yesterday, so I never got to ask…” Frisk says as he starts feeling the nervous energy radiating off of Alphys. Alphys looks at Undyne, she shrugs back like they had a silent question and answer going on between them.

 

“Doctor Gaster should be here… Maybe you should check in with him.” Alphys twiddles her thumbs, looking shorter than Frisk now.

 

"I would, but he's running late from what Papyrus told me," Frisk said feeling sorry for pushing her into this conversation.

 

“O-oh, that’s odd.” Alphys brings her hand to her mouth, almost biting her nails.

 

“If I remember from yesterday, you would be the next best person to talk to, since you’re in charge of maintaining supplies.” Frisk brought up his point. Alphys sighs, looking a bit depressed.

 

“I-I’ll check, what are you looking for?” Alphys seemed a bit more confident when she asked her question.

 

“I want to know if there are any creams, lotions, or body butters that are scentless and hypoallergenic as well as-” He looks up as the two were blushing at him, “Oh! It’s not anything dirty, though I am in a profession where anything I say sounds dirty.”

 

“E-excuse me?” Alphys speaks up first as Undyne chimed in.

 

“Well, body butter does sound dirty, but it can’t be that bad.” She shrugs looking down at Alphys and Frisk.

 

"I rub people for a living," Frisk said with a straight face, silence fell on them until Alphys snorted.

 

“Okay, w-when you say it l-like that, i-it’s bad.” She said with a smile as Undyne gave a chuckle. “S-so, i-is that all I’m looking for?”

 

“Sadly, no. I need to know if you also have a massage table that can accommodate monsters because I only have one that’s designed to hold a human up to six hundred pounds.” Frisk shakes his head while saying that to Alphys.

 

“You want to massage monsters?” Undyne asks with a skeptical look.

 

“Why not? I’m sure monster need them as much as humans do...” Frisk answers, shrugging.

 

“O-oh. Alright, l-let me get the clipboard.” She says as goes into her office, “I feel like I need to write down what you’re saying.” Alphys returns from the room, leaving the door open.

 

“So, what’s a massage table?” Undyne asks as the sounds of rummaging through paper came from Alphys trying to find some black paper.

 

"It's an adjustable table that's padded so whoever is lying on it doesn't get uncomfortable," Frisk says, really thinking about it as Alphys find some paper on the clipboard and pulls out a pen.

 

"Okay, I-I'm ready, give me the list," Alphys stated, prepared to start jotting down what the young man is about to say.

 

Frisk starts listing a long inventory of items that would be needed to set up his room when he gets one. Listing the table, types of bolsters, pillows, and creams. Alphys jotted down the supplies and materials, then looking it over as he finished talking.

 

“I-is that everything?” Alphys looks up from her clipboard.

 

“As far as I know, yes.” Frisk answers.

 

“O-okay, um, you said you have a table for… humans?” She says moving her clipboard to her chest. Frisk nods. “Can you b-bring it in?”

 

“Uhhh, I could if I had a car, but it’s more difficult to carry it on a bus.” He says, unsure if he can do it. Alphys writes down something and rips it off, handing it to Undyne.

 

“H-here, that’s the number to the river person. They’ll help you if you tell them you work for the hospital. Also… Sorry… I don’t feel comfortable around humans…” Alphys tells Frisk this as Undyne passes the paper to him.

 

“I know and thank you for telling me, when do you want the table here?” Frisk replies.

 

“Ah, um, I would l-like to see it today, but y-you’re already here, so, um, t-tomorrow?” Alphys smiles weakly thinking the request is too soon.

 

“Okay, I’ll get it tomorrow.” Frisk pulls out his phone from his pocket, typing down a reminder as a little charm swung back and forth. Alphys squints her eyes and then suddenly pop open. Her clipboard goes over her mouth as she waves to Undyne, whispering to her. Undyne looks at the charm, then at Frisk.

 

“Do you watch anime, human?” Undyne blushes slightly when asking him. Frisk looks up from his phone.

 

“Well, I haven’t seen any in a really long time, but if I was recommended a series I would look it up.” Frisk replies, feeling his charm brush against his hand, he looks at it and realizes, “Oh! My friend went to Japan and got me a charm from a series I saw as a kid, I think it was called Card Collector Saruka. I would totally watch that again if I had a chance.” Undyne looks at Alphys, she hid behind her clipboard.

 

“Okay, human-“

 

”Frisk.” He cuts Undyne off.

 

“What?” Undyne’s friendly smile disappeared as Alphys’ door clicks shut.

 

“That’s my name. I call you by your name, why don’t you do the same?” Frisk looks up from his phone and at her, looking her right in the eye.

 

"I can continue calling you human if I please." Undyne crosses her arms, glaring down at him.

 

"Then I should start calling you monster." After saying that, he pressed his lips together and closes his eyes.

 

**Goddamn it, Frisk.**

 

"Excuse you, do you have a problem with me?" She leans toward him.

 

"I never have, but since yesterday, excluding the parts where we actually got along, you've been…" He sighs, "You know what, never mind, I'm sorry, Undyne. It just feels like you're stripping me of who I am. A name is important." He looks at his phone again; he's spent three hours talking to the two. "I have lunch with Toriel… I hope we can talk again on better terms, Undyne." Frisk says before passing her, and he continued walking as she yelled.

 

“We’re not done here, human!” He could hear her stomping to catch up, but a door clicked open as Alphys said something, but Frisk couldn’t hear.

 

*******************

 

Arriving at the hospital much later than his liking, Gaster walks towards his office. He spots a familiar figure at his door before arriving.

 

"Sans, what are you doing here?" Gaster spoke with a curious tone. Sans shrugs as he leans against the wall.

 

“I don’t know, usually I’m the one running late, just thought I’d come by and say…“

 

"Sans please…" Gaster tries to stop him from continuing, but to no avail.

 

“What’s up, Doc?” Sans smile widens a bit and became smug.

 

“I should have never allowed you to watch those cartoons…” Gaster states, unamused.

 

“Never knew humans could draw such cute characters to be so violent.” Sans sighs and shrugs, “So why are you running so late, Doc?” Gaster moves past Sans to his office door.

 

“What’s it matter to you, Sans? You’ve never been interested before when I arrived late… Actually, there was the time with the flower.” Gaster stares at Sans, as he puts the key into the lock, twisting it open.

“Yeah, so? I found out you didn’t have a hand in making that flower, but who knows what you’re up now.” Sans’ tone turned to a serious one, despite him smiling.

 

“My, my. So serious and here I thought you were trying to take it easy.” Gaster turns away from him, walking into his office and flicking on the lights. “If you must know, I fell asleep, or was the assumed suspicion at me too much for you to notice that the bags under my eyes have nearly dissipated.” As he spoke he tapped his face near his sockets. Sans looked at him for a moment and said something that made the doctor’s fingers twitch as he reached for the pile of folders on his desk.

 

“Oh, so you took Frisk’s suggestion.” Sans looks back at Gaster as he turned around.

 

“Whatever do you mean?” Gaster leans against his desk.

 

“Well, it usually takes Prez Asgore or Toriel to make you go to bed, but I don’t see or smell anything close to burning like the other times.” Sans retorted with his usual smile, but it gave a smart-ass vibe; that made Gaster smile in return.

 

“So, you’re suspecting that I listened to our new hire because he asked, and I quote, ‘When was the last time you slept, Doctor?’ Although I might have slept, it was not from their concern that I did so. I found that my work was starting to wane, so I decided to take a nap. At least, I thought it was going to be a nap… Then I woke up this morning, and realized I was late.”

 

Gaster said as he told him half-truths, then moves his hand to point to his sweater, “I didn’t even have time to change clothes.” The white beads in Sans’ eyes shifted to look at Gaster’s turtle neck, then back to him.

 

“Weird to see and... hear you say that.” Sans closes his sockets, letting out a huff. “Just so, we’re clear. You were late from sleeping in, and don’t have anything going on at the lab.”

 

"I don't understand why you're bringing up the lab, but if you must know, it's being maintained in a state that you remember. You know, just like how you left it," Gaster's sockets darken as he mimics the held smile that Sans gives him.

 

"Yeah, and I don't watch cartoons when no one gave me permission to. Also, incoming."

 

Sans says those words, he gets pushed aside by Undyne looking upset and Alphys trying to catch up.

 

“Doctor Gaster! I want to talk to you about that human?!” She yells at Gaster, he stood there without his face changing expression. His white beads glance over to where Sans used to be but found he was already gone.

 

**Fantastic…**

 

Gaster closes his sockets and motions Undyne to sit along with Alphys as he rubs his lids.

 

“And what do you want to talk about?” His sockets open as he crosses his arms.

 

"I don't think the human is a good fit for our staff here," Undyne says ass her teeth gritted slightly.

 

“Oh? Why do you say that?” Gaster replies to her statement.

 

“Because they called me monster!” Undyne clenched her fist as Alphys raised her hand.

 

“Doctor Alphys, this isn’t school, so tell me what’s on your mind,” He gestures to Alphys.

 

“W-Well, he was o-only saying that because Undyne won’t s-stop calling them human.” Alphys clasps her hand together as Undyne turns to her.

 

“Humans put you through hell! They hurt you!” Undyne yells.

 

“B-but he bought you along…” Alphys sheepishly retorts, which stopped Undyne. Gaster looks on with a curious expression.

 

“Care to explain?” Gaster taps his finger on his arm wanting to know what is going on. Alphys takes a breath.

 

“W-well...” She starts explaining what happened earlier to Gaster. He puts his finger to his chin as she continues to talk.

 

**He has good instincts and tries to put consideration into what he does. This matter may not concern me, but it is interesting to hear.**

 

“D-Doctor Gaster?” Alphys speaks up, bringing Gaster back to the conversation.

 

“Well, it seems to me that I need to look into it some more before confronting them about this matter. Though based on what on what Alphys has said, Undyne, you’re the one that needs to be confronted.” Gaster stands up and moves behind his desk, picking up a few folders.

 

“Excuse me?!” Undyne exclaimed.

 

"What happened to Alphys was caused by humans. I won't deny that. Though, look at it from the outside, you're being aggressive towards them for no reason. Unless you do have a reason, then I suggest, making your case known." Gaster opens a folder and starts reading its contents. Undyne turns in her chair than stands up, leaving the office.

 

“U-Um, are you going to tell the President?” Alphys nervously asks. Gaster stops reading for a moment to look at her.

 

"Protocol says I have to, but I feel that this matter can sort itself out. Although, if you're asking me not to, I'll say it slipped my mind due to loads of work presented before me." Alphys nods before she quietly leaves. Gaster sighs as he sits down, "I guess this is another page in the folder for you… Frisk."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Card collector is a spoof name of Card captor, I know what I did :3
> 
> Beta: LadyCallian


	5. The search for a place of harmony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait everyone! I have been handling some things and some been dealing with not getting burn out. So updates will be slower.

Toriel sets down a pie on the table that was covered with various types of food.

 

**Maybe this was too much…**

 

She noticed there wasn’t any space for herself or Frisk to put a plate down to eat together. Toriel’s ears perk a little, despite the weight of them, as she hears the cafeteria door open. Frisk walks through the door. The goat monster walks up to him and before grabbing his arms; she notices his downward expression.

 

“What’s wrong, Frisk?” Toriel asks him. He looks up at her.

 

"Oh, it's just… I don't know, I think I messed up." Frisk sighs; picking himself back up when he takes a breath, "Let's get some food, I'm starving." He gives a smile as he glances over at the table full of food, "Wow, is someone having a party?"

 

“No, I just didn’t know what you would like, so I brought more than I should have.” Toriel blushes a little, slightly embarrassed to admit her mistake, “Do you want to talk about it?” Frisk looks up at her and tried to smile again, though it came across as more painful this time.

 

“I rather go somewhere, so no one can hear in on us.” Frisk walks over to the table full of food, “Wow, you’re really good at cooking.” Toriel followed, wearing a worried expression, then a loud growl came from Frisk. She looks at him as his face stiffened, “I forgot to eat this morning…” Toriel stifled back a giggle.

 

"Well, eat as much as you like," Toriel said as she grabs a plate for him; they both grab food and sit at another table. Frisk looks around and sees a few monsters in the cafeteria.

 

“Where is everyone?” Frisk asks, looking to Toriel for an answer.

 

"Well, they're probably working a little longer than they normally do." Toriel smiles sweetly.

 

**I can’t tell him I asked them to come at a later time…**

 

Frisk munches on a sandwich as Toriel takes a bite of pasta from her plate, the sounds of them eating made Toriel smile even more.

 

“This is really good. It’s been a while since I had a meal like this.” Frisk speaks up after swallowing what he had in his mouth.

 

"Oh? Well, I'll be happy to make something for you again, if you so please." Toriel picks up her plate while Frisk grabs his dish and goes back to the table of food.

 

“Actually, I can only make breakfast...” He slices into the pie and takes out a piece, “I was wondering, if maybe… you could teach me?” Frisk turns to face Toriel. Her face beams as she hears those words.

 

“Of course, I will!” Toriel picks Frisk up with a hug, but quickly sets him back down. “Oh, do forgive me for being so forward.” She blushes from her sudden impulse. Frisk gives her a hug back while holding the plate behind her back.

 

“If you’re fine with getting hugs, I don’t mind getting them either.” He gives her a gentle smile while she holds him. Frisk hides his face and sighs, trying to think of a way to handle his situation.

 

“What’s wrong, Frisk?” Toriel rubs his back. Frisk moves and brings up his face to look at the goat monster.

 

"I… I want to eat this pie first before talking about it if that's alright." He brings the piece of pie up, really determined to eat it. Toriel smirks a little as she chuckled.

 

“Well, alright, but you have to tell me honestly if you like it.” The warm tone in her voice reminded Frisk of something or someone. He shook it off as he took a bite of the wonderful smelling pie. The texture was smooth and the flavor of butterscotch and cinnamon was blissful.

 

“Wow, this is amazing!” Frisk says before taking another bite. Toriel smiles as she walks over to the kitchen.

 

“Would you like some tea?” Toriel spoke up so Frisk could hear her from the distance she was at now.

 

“Sure!” Frisk shouts as he finishes up the pie, glancing over at the remainder of the delicious dessert. He slowly steps up to it and gets another slice as Toriel prepares tea.

 

“What made you want to become a massage therapist, Frisk?” he jumps a little as he heard Toriel’s voice from the kitchen. Frisk stays silent for a bit, remembering the fights he used to get into at the orphanage when he was twelve. Only one person made him want to better himself.

 

"Well, the person who adopted me was a massage therapist, I thought, maybe, I could help people as they did," Frisk replies as he spots her coming out with two saucers with teacups in them. The smaller one of the two looked like it was made for a child in her big paw-like hands.

 

"That's wonderful, you should invite them over sometime," Toriel says before sipping out of her cup.

 

“I wish I could.” Frisk takes a bite from the pie again after responding.

 

“Oh? Why not?” Toriel looks at him curiously.

 

“Because they passed away halfway through my schooling.” Frisk stabs his fork into the pie.

 

"I… I'm so sorry," Toriel puts down her cup and puts her hand on top of Frisk's palm. He shakes his head.

 

"It's not your fault and you didn't know. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to become a therapist after they died. It was hard… Still is, on some days." Frisk lets go of his fork and grabbed the teacup, taking a sip from it. The tea didn't pair very well with the pie and apparently, it showed on his face.

 

“Sorry, I’m not as good with teas as Asgore is.” Toriel noticed and spoke in an apologetic tone.

 

“You mean the President?” He asks with a look of surprise.

 

“Ha… Yes, I used to be married to him, but some things happened. Hateful words were said on my part, but we’re working on being friends again despite the past.” Toriel looks at the teacup as the tea inside reflected her distraught face.

 

“Well, we both have our struggles. I hope we get along well enough to lean on each other when we’re weak.” Frisk smiles as he sets the cup down and pats the top of her hand.

 

“Wow, the atmosphere in here is heavy. Hope there isn’t a confession going on.” A familiar voice chimes in as they both look to see who it is. Sans stood there with one of the sandwiches from the table in his mouth, Toriel blushes as she quickly stands up.

 

“There is no such thing happening, Sans!” Toriel exclaims while Frisk chuckles.

 

"No, just a conversation about the past," Frisk adds before reaching over to his teacup again.

 

“That reminds me. Frisk, you want to go out for drinks after your shift? I’ve heard you  had a rough day.” Sans asks as he flops into a chair next to Frisk.

 

“Sorry, but I got to get my massage table for Alphys tomorrow morning,” He apologetically states.

 

“Oh? Where do you live? You must live far because you take the bus here.” Sans asks as he settles into the chair. Toriel didn’t seem bothered by him asking Frisk until she saw his face getting slightly uncomfortable.

 

“Perhaps you need to get to know them better before asking that, Sans.” Toriel took her seat, saying her two cents to Sans.

 

“Well, I might have a shortcut to get there and back is all I’m saying,” Sans shrugs while pulling out another sandwich from his lab coat pocket. Toriel’s eyes widen from the sight.

 

“SANS!” She yells at him, “That coat is for hospital use, it’s supposed to sterile!” Toriel continues while Sans munches on it.

 

"Oh, come on Tori. It's going to get dirty anyway." Sans replies as he tries not to spit out food. She huffs in aggravation.

 

“At least change the coat after you’re done eating, won’t you?” Toriel asks with a reserved pressure towards Sans. He swallows what he had while a few beads of sweat form on the skeleton’s skull. Even though the room was well-lit, Sans and Frisk saw flames imitating around her. “I wouldn’t want parents that come to the children’s ward to think we’re slobs, right, Sans?”

 

“R-right. I’ll be sure to change after eating,” Sans replies with a nervous chuckle. Frisk watches them as it seemed the two monsters had reached a conclusion with one another. He takes another bite of the pie in front of him, as his thoughts begin to wonder.

 

**They seem like really good friends… Kind of makes me miss mine… Maybe I’ll send them a message or something.**

 

“Are you okay, Frisk?” Toriel asks. Frisk snaps out of his train of thought, looking at the two monsters returning his gaze.

 

“Oh, yes. I was just thinking how great you two get along and how you must be good friends,” Frisk says, feeling a bit embarrassed. Sans chuckles.

 

“Well, we did tell knock-knock jokes through a door before really meeting face to face.” The skeleton said, closing an eye socket.

 

“Oh, yes. That was when I took care of the ruins.” Toriel says as she remembers her time there.

 

“Ruins?” Frisk asks curiously.

 

“Yeah, before the barrier cramped away.” Sans turns to Frisk and answers him.

 

“Barrier? What barrier?” Frisk questions with a more confused look on his face

 

“Do you not know the history of Mt. Ebbot?” Toriel asked which Frisk shook his head too.

 

"Well, I guess I'll leave the history lesson to you, Tori," Sans says as he throws up a peace out sign before vanishing.

 

“You really don’t know?” She looked at the human curiously.

 

“Well, I know that there were stories about monsters, but not very… nice stories. None of them mentioned barriers. Though, in the past, numerous governments have erased or covered up the past from the public.” Frisk states, looking at the concerned goat monster staring down at him.

 

“I see… Well, if you would allow me, I’ll tell you what happened all those years ago.” Toriel states as she waits for his reply.

 

“I would like to know,” the human responds.

 

Toriel smiles as she started to explain that a very long time ago, humans and monsters were at war. The monsters wanted the fighting to stop, for both sides had lost a great number of lives. Some monsters would help humans get to a safe place, despite getting killed themselves. Then the humans offered peace and the meeting was going to be held at Mt. Ebbot. Asgore was cautious as one human, whom a monster saved, came to warn the monsters. Their king asks that the ones who were willing to come with him, stay with him. While the strongest stay with those that wanted to retreat. Almost all of the monsters followed him to the meeting, they all knew what to expect.

 

"The peace we wished for was just a lie the humans told. They fought, backing us into Mt. Ebbot while their mages created a barrier to seal us in. I doubt they had planned for it to crumble as it did, but I'm glad it happened." Toriel says finishing the story.

 

“What happened to the monsters that got away?” He asks the goat monster, interested in hearing what she had to say.

 

She shakes her head, “I do not know,” Toriel answers.

 

“You have no way of getting a hold of them?” Frisk’s curiosity getting the best of him as he asks another question. Though all he got was a shake from her head and an apologetic look.

 

“I wish I knew as well,” She sighs as she picks up the plates from the table. Toriel looks at the table of food, “I guess I should let the other staff know that there’s food in the cafeteria...”

 

“First come, first serve, but before you do, I’d like to take another piece of pie home with me. Even though, I don’t have anything to carry it in.” He said blushing, not wanting to seem like a pig for eating so much.

 

“I’ll put it in a container just for you, Frisk.” Her smile and her words gave him warmth.

 

“Uh, Toriel?” Frisk hesitated while his hands rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Hm? What is it?” The goat monster responds as she collects the saucers and teacups.

 

“Do- …Can I help you with cleaning up?” He disregards what he was originally going to ask and tried to offered help, but Toriel shakes her head.

 

“No, no, it’s fine. I have a feeling that’s not what you wanted to ask though.” She says while heading to the kitchen with the dirty dishes. Frisk follows behind and sees the large kitchen with stainless steel tables and gas shoves. He was almost taken back by this, but the matter on his mind kept him from wandering off. Toriel washes the dishes in the sink, keeping herself aware of Frisk who appeared to be struggling.

 

“Can we talk privately? I need some advice...” He fought to say that, Frisk wasn’t used to asking for help on matters like this. She didn’t judge him and her expression said as much.

 

“Sure. I know that perfect place.” The goat monster grabbed a towel from the side and wiped her hands. Placing it on the other side of the sink, Toriel went back to the table of food and put the lid on the pie. She slid it into one of her bags and handed it to Frisk, “We’ll cut the piece out later.”

 

“We don’t need to go right now!” He says flustered.

 

“Well, I don’t see why not and besides, I don’t want you to say, ‘Nevermind,’ to me.” She tells Frisk as she takes him by the hand and guides him to a garden that was in the center of the hospital. The garden had a large array of yellow flowers growing around the walls and in the center. Frisk was mystified by how beautiful it was, then got gently tugged along by Toriel. They walked over to a bench and the goat monster let go of Frisk and sat down. Toriel pats the space next to her, “Don’t worry, no one has come since we built the hospital.”

 

“All right...” Frisk sits down next to her. They sat in silence, taking in the beauty of garden. He was the one who broke the silence as he sighed, “I need advice...”

 

******

 

Gaster signs the last of the papers needing authorization; he leans back in his chair and exhales in relief. With hearing out Undyne and Alphys, he still had the paperwork to look over and sign, but now that was done. He stands up and walks around his desk.

 

I need to get some fresh air…

 

Gaster reaches for the door and finds Sans on the other side.

 

"Oh, look who decided to come back." His voice sounded unamused by Sans' disappearing act. Sans shrugged and opened his to look at him with.

 

“Well, it was something that my job description didn’t handle.” Sans chuckles after saying that.

 

“And I’m in charge of the medical departments, not security, yet Undyne came running to me…” Gaster sighs, then turns to Sans, “So, why have you returned?”

 

“Just came to check on how the good doctor was doing.” He replies to his superior.

 

“I’m better, just need a breath of fresh air is all.” The doctor rubs his lids after shutting his sockets.

 

“Yeeeaaaahhh. Don’t go to the garden today.” The short skeleton says while a bead of sweat forms on his skull.

 

“Why do you say that?” Gaster looks at him curiously.

 

"Mainly because Tori and Frisk are having a private talk. Just so you know, there's food she made in the cafeteria. She got over excited and made far too much, but the pie is gone." Sans pulls out another sandwich from his pocket. Gaster looks at him and before he said anything the children's doctor spoke up, "Yeah, yeah, Tori already threatened me. I'll change my coat after the pockets are empty."

 

“And how many are in there?” Gaster asks, the beads in his sockets glaring down at him. Sans slides the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, giving him time to think of a response, but then Gaster sighs, “It’s none of my business, but I do wish to be with my thoughts. So, if you would…” He felt a shift next to him and knew he didn’t have to complete his sentence because Sans was gone.

 

He stops and looks down a corridor that still had sunlight coming through.

 

**I did want to go outside, but I’m curious what the two are discussing… It would be unwise to make Toriel angry…**

 

Gaster taps his chin, thinking.

 

**Curiosity killed the cat, as the humans would say, but they also said that satisfaction brought it back…**

 

He pauses from that thought, then turns to the corridor leading to the garden. As he walked, his shadow got darker and wider. Without missing a step or panicking, he sunk into the darkness with it slipping under the door.

 

Gaster remembered how he got this ability, it was when they were building the CORE. That feeling when he slipped up, like a fragment of himself was altered or slid out of place. He recalled that most everyone he knew didn’t forget him, but they forgot who his family was, even his own family forgot they were related. Gaster looks out and sees nothing but darkness, except for white circular platform underneath him. This platform stayed beneath him no matter how fast he walked or ran. The doctor called it the Void and while he remained in that space, he could see into the darkness and observe those not suspecting.

 

Gaster focused on the garden, more specifically Frisk and Toriel. From the void, the sounds of their voices were muffled but then became clearer to the point of understanding their words.

 

“That’s when I came to the cafeteria because I promised to have lunch with you.” The young man finished telling the goat monster what happened earlier that day.

 

"Well, your frustration is understandable," Toriel spoke up, holding an air of understanding.

 

“Yeah, but how am I going to fix this?” Frisk asked her.

 

**They must be talking about the spat between him and Undyne had…**

 

“Hmm, I suggest not worrying too much on the matter. You weren’t in the wrong, and if you want I’ll talk to Undyne.” She moves to stand up, but he stops her.

 

“Please don’t. This matter is between me and her. I just wanted advice to hopefully not make it worse.” The young man said, looking distraught. Toriel sat back down.

 

"Then, don't mind when she calls you human," The goat monster said with a straight face.

 

“What?! No!” Frisk exclaims.

 

“I thought you would say that...” She puts her massive paw on his shoulder and gives him a warm smile, “Stand your ground. Don’t feel guilty, especially since her behavior isn’t your fault.”

 

“Heh, I just thought of something...” The young man returned her gentle smile with one of his own.

 

“What is that?” Toriel tilted her head slightly in curiosity.

 

"You remind me of my mother. I think the two of you would have gotten along really well." Awkwardness filled the air, mainly from the human, "Sorry, forget I said that."

 

“You said you were adopted, do you mind if I ask what happened to your parents?” Gaster sweated from hearing Toriel’s question.

 

**Brave question.**

 

“Ah… well, they died.” Frisk answers, but his eyes look away from her and down at the ground.

 

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” She said in a worried tone. The human shakes their head before slouching down, putting their elbows on their knees.

 

“It’s fine, it’s normal to ask that when you think about it...” He took a breath while his head hung, then brings himself back up to a sitting position, “I can’t tell you just yet. Sorry, but I’m still working through what happened myself.” The tone in his voice was heavy and filled with sorrow which made Toriel’s and Gaster’s soul ache. The goat monster pulled Frisk into a hug, saying nothing more to their conversion. Though the monster who listened from the shadows couldn’t help but continue to arch from the knowledge he attained.

 

**I-I think I’ve attained enough for today.**

 

Gaster thinks as the shadow shifts and moves away from the two, slipping back under the door. Walking out of the void, he continues his stride away from the corridor to the garden. The monster's pace picks up while his soul wished to do more than think of possibilities and solutions. Returning to his office, he locks the door behind him, taking in the silence. The whites in his sockets look at his desk, seeing the lessened mess of his paperwork, his feet start to move again. Gaster gets to his desk and starts searching, finding a pen and paper. He doesn't bother with the other papers needing his attention, his focus was on documenting.

 

***

 

Frisk breathes a sigh of relief into Toriel's shoulder, but after a while, he pats her back. She lets him go, they both sit in silence for a time before Toriel speaks up.

 

“I’ll be here if you ever want to talk about it.” The goat monster tells the human with a gentle tone in her voice. He nods.

 

“Thanks… I feel like I need some alone time. So, I’ll have to say good-bye for now.” Frisk stands up, giving the caring monster a weak smile before leaving her side. She couldn’t say anything as he left. Frisk opened the doors and left the garden behind him.

 

He walked around the halls of the hospital, greeting monster monsters who passed by. There were so many things to think about that wasn’t about his past, but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about the night. That is until he felt a hand on his shoulder, bringing Frisk out of his stupor. The large skeletal hand seemed to be gentle as if it was handling glass. The size of the hand made the human almost instantly realized who’s hand it was before the skeleton even spoke.

 

“FRISK! IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?” Papyrus’ booming voice echoed while Frisk looked.

 

“Yeah, just feeling tiny.” He gave the tall skeleton a smile.

 

“THAT’S BECAUSE YOU ARE! NYEH!” Papyrus states back with a smile of his own. Frisk chuckled weakly.

 

“I suppose you’re right.” He says, then looks at the skeleton, “So, what’s up?” Papyrus’ brows furl.

 

“WAS THAT A PUN?” Papyrus puts his hands on his hips and looks down at Frisk, “HAS MY BROTHER CORRUPTED YOU ALREADY?”

 

“Honestly, no. Unless you want it to be.”

 

“NO, NO. I APPRECIATE YOUR HONESTLY.” The skeleton says loudly, then crosses his arms, “I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WERE OKAY, HU- ahem FRISK.”

 

"I'm fine," Frisk replied, but it looked like that didn't convince the monster. He took a deep breath before saying anything else, "Listen, I've gone through a heavy emotional distress today, and I would prefer not to talk about it again. I'm just walking it off." Frisk could tell Papyrus was going to say something, but didn't know what. He wanted to walk away and just keep walking, but he stayed.

 

“BUT, FRISK, YOU’VE BEEN WALKING THE ENTIRE HOSPITAL FOR THE PAST HOUR AND A HALF!” That statement made Frisk freeze, he saw the skeleton’s expression turn to concern. He didn’t realize how long he was walking.

 

“Ah, I see, sorry.” The human gives an apologetic look to the skeleton. Still worried, the security guard drops to a knee, placing his skeletal hands on Frisk’s shoulders.

 

"YOU CAN COUNT ON ME IF SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU." The skeleton pounds his chest with pride. The young man got the feeling if he continued to be this positive, he would take the world by storm.

 

“Sorry Papyrus, I just unloaded some emotional baggage that I thought I had under control, but… Well, let’s say I either need a stiff drink or… the other option doesn’t really exist.” Frisk gave him an apologetic look and was a little embarrassed as he thought of the other option. After all, he’s been single for a while.

 

“Did someone say drink?” The shorter skeleton steps out from behind the taller one.

 

“Yeah, but I got a list of things to do, especially tomorrow.” the young man said, remembering that Sans wanted to take him out for a drinks earlier.

 

“Like delivering the table to Alphys?” Sans says arching his bony brow.

 

“WHAT TABLE? I SHALL HELP MOVE IT!” Papyrus speaks up with excitement to help his new friend.

 

“I can handle it, trust me. Plus Alphys gave me the number of someone called the River person?” Frisk pulls out the piece of paper the nervous doctor gave him.

 

“THEY ARE VERY RELIABLE, NEXT TO ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” The tall skeleton strikes a small pose that radiated confidence. He hasn’t given up on helping.

 

“Yeah, you are pretty great, bro and so cool.” Sans chuckles and looks at the young man. “Seriously though, you’ve had a lot happen to you in the span of two days. Luckily for you my offer still stands, getting drinks at my personally favorite bar, Grillby’s.”

 

“UGH. NOT THAT GREASE TRAP...” Papyrus grimaced.

 

“What so bad about it?” Frisk questioned, giving the tall skeleton a look of curiosity.

 

“NOTHING, EXCEPT THEY SERVE OILY AND FATTY FOODS.” The monster stated bluntly. The young man sighed and then looked at the shorter skeleton.

 

“What time?” Frisk asked Sans.

 

"How about in a few hours? I still have to finish up work with Tori and I don't want to have to handle the consequences again." The stocky monster's sockets go dark and he has a couple of beads of sweat form on his skull. Papyrus and the human exchange looks, Frisk's expression was inquisitive while the younger brother's look was one answering what was on Frisk’s mind. The young man nodded his head and looked back to Sans.

 

“That’s okay, I’ll probably look for Doctor Gaster to find out where I’m going to be working.” He states giving a shrug.

 

“You sure?” The shorter skeleton says.

 

“Yeah, if he’s still not here I’ll head over to the children’s ward.” Frisk lifts the bag with the pie in it, “She still needs to cut a piece of pie out for me to take home.”

 

“SO, YOU HAVE THE PIE!” Papyrus points at the bag. The young man looks at Sans, the shorter skeleton shrugs at him.

 

“Yeeeeesssss, did you want some too?” He asks the tall skeleton, Papyrus catches what he was doing and turns his face away from the human.

 

“I-if you don’t mind.” The monster was slightly blushing from embarrassment and spoke in a softer tone. Frisk found that to be cute.

 

"Sure, actually if you could take this to Toriel. She probably is happy to cut you a slice and this would save me, mainly because I've been carrying it to whole time." The young man smiles handing the bag to Papyrus. The tall skeleton grabs it from him and salutes.

 

“WILL DO, FRISK.” The monster said before dashing off down the hallway, leaving his brother and the human standing in his dust. Frisk and Sans look at each other and the shorter skeleton spoke up first.

 

"Do you know where his office is?" Sans asks. The young man averts his gaze.

 

"I'll eventually run into it," Frisk replied. Sans sighs and grabs his shoulder. He teleports them to be in front of Gaster's office.

 

"Here you go, kid. Don't forget to come back to the children's ward after you’re done, we're going for drinks." He winks at the human before teleporting away. Frisk chuckle, then took a breath. He looked at the door and gave a solid knock.

 

Gaster hears the pounding on the door and without looking up, “If it’s Undyne or Sans, please come back another day, I’m currently busy.”

 

“I can come by another day, but I really need to know where I’m going to be working.” The young man said back to the doctor through the door. The pale monster on the other side shut the file on Frisk, getting up from his desk and striding towards the entrance to his office. He opens it and sees the human standing on the other side.

 

"Right, your place to set up and make your own. I've been so busy, it slipped my mind." Gaster walks through the door and shuts it behind him, "Now I'm guessing you got the complete tour?" The young man nods.

 

“Are we going to the rehabilitation wing?” Frisk asks.

 

"That would be an excellent place for you to work, but not now," Gaster answers as he locks the door.

 

“Wait, why not now?” The human looked at him confused when he questioned.

 

“Well, we have no one to rehabilitate yet and from how things have been…” Gaster paused with a slight grimace on his face before continuing, “Working out on the president’s end. Let’s just say it’s better to adjust as we go. Besides, I would hate to see a fresh new employee just sitting around doing nothing.” The pale monster motion his hand, gently telling Frisk to start walking. The young man moved and Gaster matched his stride as they walked down the corridor. “I think it would be best if we had you stationed near the entrance for now.” The doctor’s voice echoed down the hall along with their footsteps. Frisk thought about it for a while before saying anything.

 

“Is it because it’s a shorter distance from individuals wanting a massage?” The young man inquired.

 

“Indeed, but may I ask, are you planning to treat monsters as well?” His white beads in his sockets shift to look at the human.

 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Frisk retorted with his own question. Gaster did think of replying with the line of thinking he had to do in the past with human doctors.

 

**For money.**

 

He quickly cast that thought aside, due to his… eavesdropping earlier. Gaster put together that he wasn’t in this for the money. The doctor turned his head to the human.

 

“Well, if I had a guess, it would be because you don’t care who you’re treating so long as their taken care of.” The pale monster said, thinking he may have gotten it right.

 

"Oh no, I do care who I'm treating," Frisk curtly responded leaving Gaster a little shocked. "I don't care for those who think it's okay to "accidentally" brush against my groin multiple times with warnings and thinks it's funny to ask for a happy ending..." The young man sighs as he remembered the hours he needed to acquire and the different types of people he had to deal with. Most were kind and others were set in their way, but there were a few that made him be clear about the boundaries. The therapist did have to end a session early due to it being inappropriate. Gaster remained quiet, observing his change in body language, "I also don't care for those who think they're above me and tell me what to do." Frisk felt himself get angry, but took a breath instead, putting it aside. "Well, I'm more concerned now about future clients because if they're used to the shorter distance, then when we change the location later, wouldn't they be confused on where to go?"

 

“I hope that they would be comfortable enough to ask the staff on where to go or at least follow them to their destination” Gaster replied, the white beads of light in his sockets follow the young man. Studying him as they walked, though he soon found his eyelights to be wandering down the human’s body as he thought.

 

“I would hope so too.” Frisk agreed with the pale monster making him snap back to reality. Gaster remained composed, but inside his mind, thoughts were running wild.

 

**What the hell was I doing? Observation was the only objective I should have been doing. If I think about, I technically was? No, no, no. That was not observing.**

 

He blinks and sees the reception desk with two monsters sitting behind it. One was a purple cat monster with black hair, filing her claws. The other was a reptilian monster with blonde hair wearing red lipstick, applying nail polish on her nails.

 

“Bratty, Catty, I do hope you’re doing your jobs correctly in order for you to have free time like this.” Gaster walks up to the counter, placing a hand on the smooth surface, talking in a stern voice. The two monsters straighten up before replying.

 

“Oh yeah, totally, Doctor. Right, Catty?” the reptilian monster said and looks at the cat monster who just put away her nail file.

 

“Totally, Bratty, we wouldn’t want to let you down.” She replied back to Bratty, then both gave a smile.

 

“Yes, do understand. I’d like everyone to have an easier time when a crisis does occur, not many hospitals get this opportunity to prepare for what is to come.” Gaster pointed that out to them as Bratty lightly shakes her hands in a sad attempt to dry her nails more quickly without him realizing, though that didn’t work. “Bratty. I’ll let it slide for today, but I ask you two to try to look busy when we do have patients.” He gestures over to Frisk, “For now, this is Frisk, our new hire and massage therapist who is taking the empty room closest to here.”

 

"Hello." The young man waves at them from what he could see Catty was a little taller than him by 2 inches while Bratty was probably a foot taller than him. The two look at him and then at each other before turning back to him.

 

“Hi~ Frisk.” They said in unison and just as flirty as the other. Gaster sighed as Frisk smiled, holding back a chuckle. He knew full well what that tone meant and if he didn’t say something soon he was going to be trapped there, talking, for hours.

 

“I would love to stay to try to get to know you better, but I promised someone I would go drinking with him tonight.” They both awe in disappointment as Frisk told them that, walking up to Gaster, “Where’s the room?”

 

"Right over here." The pale monster replied, walking over to a door at the entrance to the corridor. He turns the handle, opening and revealing an empty room. It was very large, enough to be a normal human-sized hospital room. Frisk was quiet for a moment letting it process.

 

"This is bigger than any treatment room I've ever been in..." The young man slowly stepped inside, trying to figure out where to put the table. Gaster gaze follows Frisk, but he felt the stares of Bratty and Catty as well. The pale monster blinks shifting his beads to the monsters pretending to hide behind the corner of the wall, though their heads were popping out.

 

“Ladies, work.” Gaster sternly says to them, making the two scramble back to what they were supposed to do. The young man jumped a little from how strict he sounded. He looks at the room again.

 

**Ah, I’ll figure it out later.**

 

Frisk returns to the doorway, “Thank you for showing me where I’m going to be until everything gets figured out, Doctor.”

 

“Well, this should have been done yesterday.” Gaster sighs as he watches the young man pull out his phone to look at the time.

 

“It’s fine, but I’m sorry, I have to go.” Frisk put his phone away after seeing it’s been about a half an hour since he went with Gaster.

 

“Right, your… friend?” The doctor was curious about this individual the human wanted to meet up with since he felt like he was getting his time cut short with him.

 

“Yeah, well, hopefully. He’s a co-worker.” The young man replied. The pale monster thought for a moment.

 

**Must be Papyrus… But I better ask just in case.**

 

“Who? If you don’t mind me asking.” Gaster asked, feeling confident who it might be by holding his smile. Frisk looked up at him giving him a curious expression asking him why without saying anything. He sighed before giving him an answer.

 

“It’s Sans, why do you ask?” the young man stated and then poses a question himself. Gaster paused, his smile waned a little as he thought.

 

**Why am I asking? It’s none of my business who he chooses to be around… but it’s Sans, would he say something? No, no, he wouldn’t… So why…**

 

The pale monster felt his soul thump. He prevented his face from showing any emotion as he noticed it.

 

**Oh, no… Not again…**

 

“Well, curiosity, of course. Like the saying about the cat humans use.” Gaster smile returned as he replied, “You could say when I meet new people, my curiosity always gets the better of me.”

 

**Stop.**

 

“Ah, okay. Well, maybe when we have time we can have lunch or something?” Frisk lightly shrugged with what he said. Gaster shifted slowly away from the human.

 

“That would be nice, I hope that will happen-”

 

**Don’t.**

 

“But I need to get back to work myself, so have fun tonight.” Gaster turns and walks away saying one last thing before turning the corner, “If you have any problems, come and find me.”

 

Frisk watched him leave, thinking to himself.

 

**He doesn’t seem so bad.**

 

The young man headed out himself towards the children’s ward. He continued walking, finding himself familiar with the halls already as he approached the ward.

 

**I guess me walking around in a daze helped out…**

 

Frisk walked in to hear a friendly conversation between Toriel and Papyrus. They both were sitting and seemed to get along pretty well, which made the human look over to the pile of bean bag chairs. As suspected, Sans was out of his medical coat, had sunk into them and fallen asleep. Frisk rolled his eyes and sighs with a smile before heading over to the two monster’s talking.

 

"YOU MUST TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE THIS PIE SOMETIME." Papyrus proclaimed, Toriel giggled at his enthusiasm, then saw Frisk approaching.

 

"Well, if Frisk doesn't mind, you can join us when I'm teaching him." She smiled sweetly as Papyrus turned with stars in his sockets. The young man couldn't help but smile back.

 

“Sure. The more, the merrier.” He stands next to Papyrus, even though he was sitting, he was still taller by four inches compared to the human. The tall skeleton squealed in excitement and hugs the young man.

 

“OH! I CAN’T WAIT!” Papyrus exclaimed as Frisk winced from the volume. Toriel noticed as she found herself flinching as well.

 

“Papyrus, remember. Volume.” She told him gently, Papyrus puts a hand over his mouth while still hugging Frisk.

 

“I’M SORRY, FRISK.” Papyrus was still loud, but it was far more bearable.

 

“It’s fine, I’m starting to get used to it.” The young man said before asking, “So, how long has Sans been sleeping?” the two monsters turn and look towards Sans.

 

“THAT LAZYBONES...” Papyrus separates from Frisk, standing up and walking over. He grabs the shorter skeleton by the arms and shakes him vigorously, “SANS, WAKE UP. FRISK IS HERE, YOU INDOLENT PILE OF BONES!” Sans lazily opens one of his sockets, his white eyelight looking at his little brother then shifts over to Frisk.

 

“’eyyyy, you’re back.” The shorter skeleton gives a sleepy smile and slumped into Papyrus’ hands.

 

“Yes, they are.” Toriel stands up, making the skeleton brother’s take notice. She grabs a container with a slice of pie in it and hands it to Frisk, “Here you are, dear.” The young man thanks her and she turns to face the brothers, “Sans.”

 

“Yeah, Tori?” Sans replies with a bead of sweat on his skull.

 

“Do make sure that Frisk doesn’t get hurt, alright?” Toriel says sweetly, as her hand touches the back of the young man gently pushing him forward, “Have fun, Frisk.” She whispered to him before he approached Sans who was set down. They both look at each other as Sans shrugs, giving a pat to his shoulder and teleporting them away.

 

Frisk blinks and finds Sans and himself in a different place altogether. This new area was warm, not just in temperature, but in the feel. Maybe it was the color of the walls and wooden floors or the lighting. Perhaps it was the friendly atmosphere from the few patrons of the bar or the fact the monster behind the bar was made of fire. Sans passed by the booths and tables and sat right at the bar, waving to the other monsters in the place. Frisk followed shortly after taking in the new area.

 

The bartender goes up to them, making the human feel small. The fire monster was much taller than him and if he had to take a guess at his height it would have been eight feet, give or take a handful of inches. The bartender’s husky voice sounds out as he asks the two, “So, what can I get you this evening?” His head turns to Sans, “I know what you’ll want and let me guess, I’ll be collecting your tab later… Again.” The skeleton’s cheekbones lightly turned a shade of blue, making the fire monster chuckle. Frisk shifts his eyes between the two, then the bartender looks at him.

 

“Honestly, I don’t know the last time I was at a bar was...” the young man thinks, “Four years ago?” He answered honestly which made the bartender smile.

 

“Really, kid? Do you not like bars?” Sans asked

 

“Nah, it’s more like no one would go with me. Besides, this place is far better then any bars I've been in; what kind of drinks do you have?” Frisk responded to Sans, then looks at the bartender and asked his question.

 

The fire monster grabbed a list under the bar and gave it to the human, “I forgot to introduce tall, hot and smoldering here.” Sans speaks up then points at the bartender, “This is Grillby. Grillby, this is Frisk.” The young man looks at Grillby and smiles.

 

“Nice to meet you, I’m a massage therapist at the hospital.” Offering his hand, Grillby takes it and shakes it.

 

“Pleasure, I’m the owner and boyfriend of Sans.” The bartender was curt in what he said as Frisk grinned widely.

 

"I fucking knew it, I mean, paying for a tab… later." Frisk turned to Sans, wiggling his eyebrows at the last word. That made Grillby crackled like a laugh as Sans got bluer in the cheekbones. They let go of each other's hands, The young man looked at the drink menu, skimming through it, but Sans took it from him.

 

“Grillbz, he’ll have a special with a double shot of your brew.” The skeleton stated with a hint of blush still on his face.

 

“Sans, don’t be a child. We were called out, no need to be immature about it.” Grillby said with a smile at his boyfriend.

 

“Fine, just thought they should have a good time.” Sans slouched, resting his chin on the bar. Grillby brings up a bottle of ketchup for him.

 

“Oh, we’ll have a good time, but I don’t want to get smashed. I want to be able to go to work tomorrow.” Frisk retorts back to the skeleton, “I'll have a white Russian if you have the booze for it.” Grillby arches a brow, “It’s vodka, Kahlua, and heavy cream… I think..." The young man pulls out his phone and looks it up. He finds one with a picture and shows it to Grillby. The bartender gently takes the human's phone and looks at it. He turns it and looks at the bottles he has. Mixing a few alcohols together that was close to the descriptions to the spirits listed. He slides the finished beverage to Frisk, making a motion for the human to try it.

 

"Thanks!" The young man takes a swig of the drink. It tasted similar to a white Russian but it had more of a bite to it, "It's strong, but it's still good." Frisk smiled as he takes another swig. After swallowing the brew again, Frisk found that the room had gone quiet. He looks at Sans who was talking to Grillby, but no sound was coming out. The young man opened his mouth to say something, but everything went black.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There might be one or two grammatical errors in one of the things the character says, this but that is not my beta's fault. I thought about how someone else would talk to me, so I kept the error because I've never really heard her and I in a real life sentence... unless it was english class... lol
> 
> Beta: LadyCallian


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